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CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND 
DAMASCUS 




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i 



TOOLOON MOSgUE, CAIRO. 



CAIRO 

JERUSALEM, AND 

DAMASCUS 



THREE CHIEF CITIES OF 
THE EGYPTIAN SULTANS 



y , 



BY 



DfVkARGOLIOUTH, D.Litt. 



Wiih Illustrations in Colour by 
W. S. s. TYRWHITT, R.B.A. 




Nem f nrfe 

Dodd, Mead and Company 
1912 



MOPICT Pb^?-fr-^^^'rtJT^*^^^==- 



3TI4 3 



Copyright, 1907, by 
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 



Published October, içoy 



Xk, O. PUBLIO LIB&ASt 
BHPT. lO, 1940 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PEOPBBTT 
tRÀNSFKBBÈD rMûU P0BLIO LIBBABY 



: 



•19iïV20 

EDICATED TO HER 
iHIGHNESS PRINCESS 
'nazli, DAUGHTER 
OF MUSTAFA FADL 
PASHA AND GREAT-GRAND- 
DAUGHTER OF MOHAM- 
MED ALI PASHA 
Madame, — I utilise your 'kindly per^ 
mission to dedicate a book to y ou by 
offering this, in the confidence that 
^ the work of the artists will hâve your 

oo approval, whatever may be your 

"^ judgment on the text, The scènes 

*which they hâve painted, and which 
I hâve attempted to describe, are 
^ familiar to your 'Highness from 

childhood. In and about them your 
ancestors hâve played a great part, 
and two out of the three cities illus- 
trât ed hère are indissolubly con- 
nected with their names. It has long 
%een your Highness's custom to judge 
with leniency and sympathy what- 
ever cames from this country to 
yours; may the. same chdrity be ex- 
tended to this book, 

Your Highness's humble servant, 
THE AUTHOR 



PREFACE 

CHE task of composing the letterpress to ac- 
company Mr. Walter Tyrwhitt's paintings 
of scènes at Cairo, Jérusalem and Damas- 
cus was ofïered to the présent writer, an 
occasîonal visitor at those cities, as a relief from the 
labour of editing and translating Arabie texts. The 
chance of being associated at any time in his life with 
the Fine Arts constituted a temptation which he was 
unable to resist. 

The account of Cairo has been based on the Khitat 
Taufikiyyah Jaddiah of Ali PaSHA MuBARAK, cor- 
rected and supplemented from various sources, 
especially the admirable memoirs published by the 
French Archaeological Mission at Cairo, and bearing 
the names of Ravaisse, CASANOVA, and VANBercHEM. 
Monographs dealing with particular buildings hâve 
been used when available, especially those of Herz 
Bey: the author regrets that he has not been able to 
get access to ail this eminent architect's works. Of 
historical treatises employed he need only mention 
ÛitHistory of Modem Egypt (Arabie) by his friend, 
G. Zaidan, which has been of use especially for the 
Turkish period. 

For Chapter XI (Jérusalem) the author must ac- 

[vii] 



PREFACE 

knowledge hîs obligation to the works published by 
the Palestine Exploration Fund, especially those by 
«WiLSON, Warren, Conder, and Lestrange. For 
Chapter XII (Damascus) he bas derived much help 
from the Description de Damas, translated, with an 
excellent commentary, by M. Sauvaire of the In- 
stitut in the Journal Asiatique, sér. ix, vols. 3, 4, 5, 
6, and 7. 

The architectural paragraphs hâve been either 
revised or written by Mrs. MargolioutH, who has 
had training in architectural drawing. The treatises 
on Arabie Art of Gayet, Saladin, and Lane-Poole 
hâve been studied with profit. The author has, how- 
ever, abstained from Consulting the work of the 
last of thèse writers on Cairo: for, owing to Mr. 
Lane-Poole's unique qualifications for dealing with 
this subject, the perusal of his book might bave in- 
volved anyone else writing on the same thème în 
plagiarism. 

Oxford, September, 1907. 



[ viii ] 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Cairo before THE Fatimides I 

II. The Fatimide Period 30 

III. Buildings of the Fatimide Period .... 65 

IV. The Ayyubid Period and its Buildings . . 81 
V. The First Mameluke Sovereign 107 

VI. Nasir and His Sons 139 

VII. The Early Circassian Mamelukes . . . . 170 

VIII. The Last of the Circassian Mamelukes . . 206 

IX. The Turkish Period 228 

X. The Khedivia Polderi 256 

XI. Jérusalem: An Historical Sketch .... 293 

XII. The Praises of Damascus 366 

XIII. Scènes from the History of Damascus . . 402 

Appendix 453 



[ix] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Tooloon (Tulun) Mosque, Caîro Frontispice e 

Facing Page 

The Sentînel of the Nile 2 

The Sphinx 12 

In a Cairene Street 20 

Midan-el-Adaoui (Maidan El-Adawi) 26 

Street Scène, Bab el Sharia (Bab Al-sha'Riyyah), Caîro . 34 

Old Gateway near Bab-al-Wazîr, Cairo 42 

Sharia el Azhar (Shari-al-Azhar), Cairo 50 

Courtyard of the Mosque of El Azhar, University of Cairo 58 
A Mosque in the Saida Zeineb (Sayyidah Zainab) Quarter, 

Cairo 66 

The Citadel of Cairo 74 

An Old Palace, Cairo 82 

Door of a Mosque, Cairo 92 

Mosque of Sultan Bibars (Baibars), Cairo 100 

The Khan El Gamaliyeh (Jamaliyyah), Cairo . . . . 108 

A Street near El Gamaliyeh (Jamaliyyah), Cairo . . . 116 

Mosque of Aimas; Interior, Cairo 124 

Minaret of Ibrahim Agha's Mosque, Cairo 132 

Outside the Mosque of Ibrahim Agha, Cairo . . . . 140 

Ibrahim Agha's Mosque: the Interior 148 

The Washing-place, Ibrahim Agha's Mosque . . . . 156 

Interior of the Mosque of Shakhoun (Shaikhun), Cairo . 164 

The Tentmakers' Bazaar, Cairo 172 

[xi] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Factng Page 

An Old House near the Tentmakers* Bazaar, Caîro . . 176 

Tombs of the Caliphs, Caira 182 

The Dôme of El Moaiyad (Muayyad) from Bab Zuweyleh 

(Zuwailah), Cairo 188 

A Courtyard near the Tentmakers' Bazaar, Cairo . . . 200 

Palace of Kait Bey (Kaietbai), Cairo 216 

The Mosqueel Ghoree (Ghuri), Cairo 222 

Mosques in the Sharia Bab al Wazir, Cairo 230 

A Side Street in Cairo 236 

A Street Scène in Cairo 244 

Sharia el Kirabiyeh or Street of the Water-Carriers, Cairo . 256 

The Khan el Dobabiyeh (Dubabiyyah), Cairo .... 266 

Cairo: Shari Darb el Gamamiz (Jamamiz) .... 274 

Souk Silah, the Armourers' Bazaar, Cairo 284 

The Fair, Moolid el Ahmadee (Maulid Ahmadi), Cairo . 290 
Morning in Jérusalem: The Dôme of the Rock on the 

Shaded Side 296 

Jérusalem: The Dôme of Kait Bey (Kaietbai) Haram-es- 

Shereef (Sharif) 308 

The Gâte of the Cotton Merchants, Jérusalem .... 320 

South Porch of Mosque and Summer Pulpit, Jérusalem . 330 

Dôme of the Rock from Al Aksa, Jérusalem 346 

Haram es Shereef (Sharif), Jérusalem 356 

Damascus from the Salahiyeh (Salihiyyah) : Sunset over the 

City 368 

House of Naaman, Damascus 374 

Tomb of Sheik (Shaikh) Arslan, Damascus 382 

Walls of the City and Barada River, Damascus . . . 388 

The Hamareh (Suk Ali Pasha), Damascus 396 

A Khan in Damascus 402 

[xii] 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Facing Page 
'(i) Syrîan Tile of the XVIIIth Century, from a Damascus 

Mosque, (2) Syrîan Tile, XVIth or XVIIth Century, 

from a Damascus Mosque 408 

Minaret of the Bride, Damascus 418 

Damascus, Minaret of Jésus 424' 

General View of Damascus in Early Spring .... 428 
Traditional Site where St. Paul was let down in a Basket, 

Damascus 432 

Dômes of Damascus 438 

The Moslem Cemetery and View of Mount Hermon, 

Damascus 442 

The Midan (Maidan), Damascus 446 

Near the Midan (Maidan), Damascus 450 

LINE DRAWINGS 

Page 
Hezekiah's Pool 303 

Tower Antonia, Jérusalem 339 

Dôme of the Rock, Interior 353 

Summer Pulpit, Haram Area 363 

The following illustrations hâve been reproduced by the courtesy of their 
owners : 

Tooloon Mosque; In a Caîrene Street; A Street Scène, Cairo; The 
Mosque El Ghoree, Cairo; and Door of a Mosque, Cairo, by kind per- 
mission of the owner, T. M. Kitchin, Esq. : and the Sentinel of the Nile, 
by kind permission of the owner, M. le Vicomte R. d'Humières. 

Errata. The titles of the two plates " Morning in Jérusalem: The Dôme 
of the Rock on the Shaded Side," and " Minaret of Ibrahim Ayha's Mosque " 
are incorrectly given on the plates themselves as "Morning in Jérusalem: 
the Mosque of Omar on the Shaded Side," and " Mosques in the Sharia 
Bab-el-Wazis." Where the phonetic spelling of other titles difïers in text 
and illustrations, the alternative titles are given in brackets in the list of 
illustrations and on the tissues. 

[ xiii ] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

XF modem Egypt îs a doubly dépendent 
country, tributary to one empire, and 
protected by another, a few centuries ago 
it claimed to be not only independent but 
impérial. Its capital, Cairo, was founded when the 
power of Baghdad was already declining, and for 
two centuries it maintained a Caliph who contested 
with bis Eastern rival the possession of Syria, Pales- 
tine and Arabia. And when in the thirteenth cen- 
tury the Mongol storm wrecked the great metropolis 
of Islam on the Tigris, it was at Cairo that sovereigns 
arose capable of rebuilding an Islamic empire, and 
repelling the Mongols beyond the Euphrates. For 
two and a half centuries Cairo remained the capital 
of western Islam, and the seat of the most powerful 
Mohammedan state, sending out governors to many 
provinces, and recognised as suzerain even where it 
did not appoint the ruler: being itself the laboratory 
of a political experiment perhaps never tried else- 
where. Its monarchs bore the title Slave {Marne- 
luke) , not in mock humility like the Servus servorum 
Dei, but in the plain and literal sensé of the term. 

[I] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

The occupant of the throne was ordinarily a Turk, 
Circassian or Greek, who had been purchased in the 
market, and then climbed step by step, or at times by 
leaps and bounds, a ladder of honours at the top of 
which was the sultan's throne. A slave with slaves 
for ministers constituted the court, and men of the 
same origin officered the army. The talents vv^hich 
had raised the first sovereign to the first place were 
rarely, if ever, handed on to his ofïspring; the natural 
heir to the throne could seldom maintain himself on 
it for more than a few months or years. To hâve 
passed through the slave-dealer's hands seemed to be 
a necessary qualification for royalty. 

In the country v^hich gave them theîr tîtle thèse 
rulers housed as strangers. To its religion they in- 
deed conformed, but w^ith its language they w^ere 
usually unfamiliar. The life of the nation was 
afifected by their justice or injustice, and the wisdom 
or unwisdom of their policy, internai and external; 
but in the nation they took no root. Hence one battle 
displaced them for the Ottomans, just as one battle 
in our day put the country under the power of Great 
îBritain. 

Cairo then eclipsed Baghdad, to be eclîpsed after 
two-and-a-half centuries by Constantinople; but to 
the dynasty under which it reached the zénith of its 
famé and power it did not owe its foundation. That 
took place in the tenth century, A. D.^ when an army 
was sent to invade Egypt by the descendant of a suc- 
cessful adventurer, who, claiming to be of the 
Prophet Mohammed's line, had founded a dynasty 

[2] 









i 



^||jp> 



^m 






CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

in North Africa. The place where this army had 
encamped, after capturing the older metropolis, was 
chosen to be the site of the new one. And it was 
called Victoria (Kâhirah) in commémoration of the 
conquest already achieved, and as an augury of others 
to be won. 

Those who found cities to inaugurate new dynasties 
ordinarily keep near the beaten track. Cairo is but 
two miles to the north of Postât, which had been the 
capital of the country from the tîme of the Moham- 
medan conquest. Its name îs the Latin word Fos- 
satum " an entrenchment " — and it was the camp of 
the conquering army which, under Amr, son of al-As, 
had wrested Egypt from the Byzantine empire, and 
which was made the seat of government because the 
Caliph of the time would hâve no water between his 
capital, Medinah, and any Islamic city. This is why 
the capital of Greek and Roman times, Alexandria, 
lost its pre-eminence. Fostat itself was not far from 
the remains of the ancient Memphis, and a city called 
Babylon, supposed to date from Persian times. 

For some time the new city kept growing by the 
sîde of the old city without the latter losing much of 
its importance or its populousness, of which fabulons 
accounts are given by persons professing to be eye- 
witnesses. At one time it was supposed to contain 
36,000 mosques and 1270 public baths. A descrip- 
tion of the fourteenth century, when it had long been 
on the décline, still gives it 480 small and 14 large 
mosques, 70 public baths and 30 Christian churches 
or monasteries. Fostat was celebrated not only for 

[5] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

its sîze, its populousness and the wealth of its stores, 
but also for the foulness of its air — for the mountains 
screened it from the fresh breezes of the désert — and 
the carelessness of its inhabitants with regard to the 
most elementary précautions of cleanliness. Dead 
animais were flung into the streets and lef t there ; the 
gutters discharged into the same Nile whence water 
for drinking was raised in myriads of buckets. The 
cause, however, of the eventual désolation of Fostat 
was not its unhealthiness, but the act of a ruler of 
Egypt. Shawar, nominally vizier but really sov- 
ereign, in the year 1163 having to défend the coun- 
try at once against the Franks and against a rival 
from Syria, despaired of saving the double city ; so he 
committed the older capital to the fiâmes. Twenty 
thousand bottles of naphtha and ten thousand lighted 
torches were distributed by his orders in Fostat, 
whence ail the population had been cleared, to be 
harboured in the mosques, baths, and wherever else 
there was space in Cairo. For fifty days the ancient 
city blazed; when at last the fiâmes were extin- 
guished, ail that remained of the capital of the first 
Moslem conqueror of Egypt was a pile of ashes. 

The history of Cairo falls into fîve main periods: 
the Fatimide, the Ayyubid, the Mameluke, the Turk- 
ish, and the Khedivial. The Fatimides, though the 
first independent Moslem dynasty both in fact and in 
name that governed Egypt, had been preceded by 
some rulers only nominally dépendent on Baghdad. 
The first of thèse was Ahmad Ibn Tulun, whose 
mosque still remains. The example of governing 

[6] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

Egypt for its own good with the aid of a foreign gar- 
rison was set by this predecessor of Mohammed Ali, 
and has been repeatedly followed. 

The materials for his biography are fairly copious, 
and the figure which émerges is like those of many 
Oriental statesmen — a combination of piety, benev- 
olence, shrewdness and unscrupulousness. His 
f ather, Tulun, was a Turk, who had been sent by the 
governor of Bokhara in the tribute to Baghdad, to 
the Caliph Mamun, son of the famous Harun al- 
Rashid, early in the ninth century; for at that tîme 
part of the tribute of those Eastern dependencies was 
paid in slaves. Ere long he was manumitted, and 
rose to a post of some importance at the Caliph's 
court, which was beginning to dépend on Turkish 
praetorians. His son, Ahmad, the future ruler of 
Egypt, was born September 20, 835. At the âge of 
twenty-two, af ter his f ather's death, he obtained leave 
to migrate to Tarsus, a frontier city, exposed to at- 
tacks from the Byzantines, on the chance of seeîng 
active service and obtaining regular pay. But his 
taste for theology was no less keen than that for the 
profession of arms, and at Tarsus he found oppor- 
tunities for the profoundest study. At last, however, 
an earnest summons from his mother decided him to 
return, and he started for Samarra, where at the time 
the Eastern Caliph had fixed his résidence. On this 
journey he got the first chance of displaying his 
military capacity. The caravan, fîve hundred 
strong, to which he had attached himself, was convey-j 
ing a great collection of contraband treasures fromj 

[7] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Constantinople to Samarra. After passing Edessa, 
and having reached what was supposed to be safe 
ground, it was attacked by Arab banditti, whom 
Ahmad succeeded in defeating, thereby rescuing the 
Caliph's treasure from their hands. This act placed 
him high in his sovereign's favour. Ere long a 
palace révolution led to this sovereign's déposition, 
and Ahmad Ibn Tulun accompanied him to exile 
at Wasit in the capacity of guardian, in which he 
conducted himself with modesty and gentleness. A 
command from Samarra to dispatch his prisoner was 
disobeyed by him; but he made no difficult}'' about 
handing his former sovereign over to another 
executioner. 

In the year 868 Ahmad's stepfather was appointed 
governor of Egypt, and sent his stepson thither to 
rep resent him. On September 15 he entered Postât, 
the then capital of the country, at the head of an 
army. His authority did not stretch over the whole 
land, and the financial department, chiefly connected 
with the collection of the tribute to be sent to Bagh- 
dad, was under another officiai, independent of the 
governor and inclined to thwart him. This finance 
minister, like many of his successors, had rendered 
himself unpopular by a variety of ingénions extor- 
tions, and in order to protect his life had surrounded 
himself with a bodyguard of a hundred armed 
pages. Ahmad excited this man's suspicion by re- 
fusing a handsome présent of money, and demanding 
of him instead his bodyguard, which he was com- 
pelled to hand over. In spite of the finance minis- 

[8] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

ter's conséquent endeavours to blacken Ahmad's 
character at court, fortune contînued to favour the 
deputy governor persistently. In 869 his stepfather 
was executed, but the government of Egypt was con- 
ferred upon his father-in-law, who not only retained 
Ahmad in ofBce, but placed under him those Egyp- 
tian districts which had previously been independent 
of him. By the suppression of various risings he 
won such a réputation for ability and loyalty that 
when in 872 the governor of Syria rebelled against 
the Caliph and appropriated the Egyptian tribute, 
Ahmad was summoned to Syria and authorised to 
gather forces sufficient to quell the rébellion. Thèse 
forces were not actually employed for this purpose, 
but they were not disbanded, and Ahmad on his re- 
turn to Egypt ordered a new suburb north of Postât 
to be built for their accommodation. This suburb, 
which covered a site previously occupied by Jewish 
and Christian burial grounds, was called Kata'i, 
" the fiefs," and was divided into streets assigned to 
the différent classes of which the army was formed; 
its area was about a square mile. It has been re- 
marked that each epoch in the development of the 
Moslem capital of Egypt was marked by the fresh 
location of a permanent camp; and the origin of 
Fostat and Kata'i will be reproduced in the cases of 
Cairo and its citadel. 

The next years were spent by Ahmad in consoli- 
dating his power, and, by various devices, not un- 
scrupulous for an Oriental, getting free from his 
enemies. Agents were maintained by him in Bagh- 

[9] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

dad to întercept communications from Egypt di- 
rected against himself, and summary punishment 
meted out to those from whom the communications 
emanated. By bribes wisely administered at court 
he contrived that ail to whom the governorship of 
Egypt was ofifered should décline it; and by lending 
money through agents on easy terms he gained a hold 
on many a potential enemy. The finance minister 
who had stood in his way was after a time induced to 
resign his post, and Ahmad, who took it over, re- 
leased his subjects from the onerous imposts to which' 
they had been subjected; an act of piety for which 
he is supposed to hâve been rewarded by luck in the 
discovery of treasures: but whether thèse discoveries 
actually took place or were fictions of Ahmad himself 
or his biographers is unknown. In 876, owing to 
exorbitant demands made by the Caliph's brother, 
then occupied in fighting with a pretender who had 
raised the standard of revolt in the marshes of the 
Euphrates, Ahmad definitely threw ofï his allegi- 
ance; an army was equipped against him, but owing 
to mutiny it never came near the Egyptian frontier. 
In the following year Ahmad seized Syria, and ad- 
vanced as far as Tarsus, whence he withdrew after 
establishing peaceful relations with the Byzantine 
emperor. 

To Ahmad Ibn Tulun three buildings were 
ascribed, of which only one remains intact. In 873 
he founded the first hospital of Moslem Egypt; its 
site, in a quarter called Askar, southwest of the new 
quarter Kata'i, is accurately described by the great 

[10] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

mediaeval topographer of Caîro, by whose time it 
was already ruined. According to custom, the rents 
of a number of buildings were given it by way of 
endowment. Patients, during their stay in ît, were 
to be fed and clothed at the expense of the hospital; 
when by eating a chicken and a roU one of them had 
igiven évidence of being restored to health, his gar- 
ments and any money that he had brought were re- 
turned to him, and he was dismissed. Ahmad Ibn 
Tulun was a diligent visitor at his hospital until a 
practical joke played by a lunatic under treatment 
there gave the founder a distaste for further visits. 

Another work ascribed to the same ruler is an 
aqueduct, by which water raised at a well on a spur 
of Mount Mokattam was brought northwards. The 
aqueduct, at its commencement not more than six 
mètres high, gradually becomes level with the 
ground. The ruins of this engineering work were 
identified by Corbet-Bey (to whose article in the 
" Journal of the Asiatic Society " for 1891 we shall be 
indebted for part of the description of Ahmad's 
Mosque), with an aqueduct known as Migret al- 
Imam, commencing opposite the village of Basatin. 
According to this writer the structure of the aqueduct 
confirms the legend which makes it the work of the 
same architect who af terwards built the Mosque, and 
who, for having allowed some f resh mortar to remain 
on which one day Ahmad's horse stumbled, was re- 
warded for his services with five hundred blows and 
imprisonraent. The immédiate purpose of the 
aqueduct was to furnish water to a mosque called the 

[II] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Mosque of the Feet, which, though renewed after 
Ahmad's time, seems to hâve disappeared. It 
served, however, for a much larger community than 
the keepers of the Mosque, and like the rest of this 
ruler's institutions was well endowed. The excel- 
lence of the construction of the aqueduct caused it to 
be imitated afterwards, it is said, without success. 
In 1894 ^ small sum was devoted by the Committee 
for the Préservation of the Monuments of Arab Art 
to îts repair. 

More permanent than eîther of thèse works has 
been the Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, built during 
the years 877-879. Only two mosques for public 
v^orship preceded it in Egypt, if we may believe the 
chroniclers — one, the old Mosque of Amr, the con- 
queror of Egypt, of which the original has quite dis- 
appeared, though a building is still called by its 
name; another, long forgotten, in the quarter called 
Askar, the création of which came between that of 
Fostat and Kata'i. The people of Postât are said 
to hâve complained that the Mosque of Amr was not 
large enough to hold ail Ahmad's black soldiers at 
Priday service; yet since Mohammedan potentates 
hâve ordinarily endeavoured to perpetuate their 
names by the érection of religious édifices, this mo- 
tive is not required to explain the undertaking. Mr. 
Lane Poole has observed that the older form of 
mosque consisted of an area enclosed by cloisters, 
which gave way to a form less wasteful of space, 
when ground became valuable. This was the design 
adopted by Ahmad Ibn Tulun, but a building of the 

[12] 




ïjg^ 



f-'l 



àii 



t 




Byfe>>M,sx'oi! c/tke /fou. Jolu, CoU. 



THE SPHINX. 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

sîze contemplated required a vast number of columns, 
such as could only be obtained by demolishing exist- 
îng churches or oratories, since the supply to be had 
from ancient and disused édifices had run short; and 
it was only so that the Moslem builders supplied 
themselves with columns. The Coptic architect — • 
if the legend may be believed — hearing in his prison 
of the ruler's difficulty, sent word to the efïect that he 
could build the desired édifice without columns, or 
at least with only two. He could build with piers, 
and employ brick, a material better able to resist 
fire than marble. His ofïer was accepted, he was 
released and set to work. 

The Mosque has been frequently represented and 
described, perhaps best by Corbet-Bey in the article 
to which référence has already been made. The 
hard red bricks of which it is constructed are eighteen 
centimètres long by eight wide, and about four thick, 
laid flat, and bound by layers of mortar from one- 
and-a-Tialf to two centimètres thick, ail covered with 
several layers of fine white plaster. The foundations 
are for the most part on the solid rock; the site being 
called the Hill of Yashkur, named after an Arab 
tribe who were settled there at the time of the con- 
quest of Egypt, and employed before Ahmad's date 
as a trial ground for artillery. Owing to the nature 
of the foundation and the solidity of the building 
the whole Mosque, with slight exceptions, has re- 
sisted the efïects of time, only one row of piers — the 
front row of the sanctuary — having fallen, in consé- 
quence of an earthquake on Sunday, June 8, 1814. 

[15] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

The founder's desîre that the édifice should survive 
fire and flood has therefore been fulfiUed. 

Besides the use of piers instead of columns, the 
building is noteworthy as exhibiting the first employ- 
ment on a large scale in Moslem architecture of the 
pointed arch, w^hich is said to be specially character- 
istic of Coptic architecture, and indeed to be found 
in ail Coptic churches and monasteries; the builder 
of the Mosque had already employed them in 
the aqueduct. The arches (according to Corbet's 
measurements) spring from a height of 4.64 mètres 
f rom the ground, rising at the apex to a perpendicu- 
lar height of 3.70 mètres from the spring; their 
span is 4.56 mètres, and there is a slight return. 
Above the piers the space between the arches is 
pierced by a small pointed arch, rising to the same 
height as the main arches, and indicating that the 
architect was aware of the mechanical properties of 
the pointed arch. 

Four cloisters then — three consîstîng of double 
rows and one of a fivefold row of piers — surround a 
square court, of which the sides measure ninety and 
ninety-two mètres, w^hile the w^hole Mosque covers 
an area of 143 by 119. On three sides the w^hole is 
enclosed by a surrounding wall at a distance of about 
fifteen mètres from the cloisters. Varions geometri- 
cal ornaments in low relief are v^orked in the stucco 
both around and above the arches, as they appear in 
the painting, which, however, represents not such 
arches as hâve been described, but Windows in the 
wall of the same type as those which support the 

[16] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

roof of the colonnades, but springing from engaged 
dwarf columns. A line of stucco ornament of a 
similar type runs above the small arches over the 
colonnades; the space between this and the roof of 
sycamore beams is filled with wooden planks, con- 
taining verses of the Koran in Cufîc letters eut in 
wood and attached to the planking. Exaggerated 
accounts make this frieze contain the whole of the 
Koran; but Corbet-Bey's calculations show that they 
could never hâve contained more than a seventeenth 
part of the Moslem sacred book. 

Two features of interest are the dôme in the centre 
of the court and the minaret on the north side. The 
central space was originally occupied by a fountain, 
for ornament, not for ablution, a ceremony for which 
the founder had already made provision elsewhere. 
The fountain was in a marble basin, covered by a 
dôme resting on ten marble columns and surmounted 
by another resting on sixteen. There were thus 
above the fountain two chambers, from each of which 
the Muezzin could utter the call to prayer; while 
the roof had a parapet of teak wood, and had on it 
something resembling a sundial. The whole of this 
marble érection was destroyed by fire on Thursday, 
September 7, 892, nine years after the founder's 
death, and more than a hundred years elapsed before 
it was replaced. 

The original minaret begins as a square tower, 
above which there is a round tower, each of which 
bas an external staircase, broad enough for two 
loaded camels to mount; to thèse, in later times, two 

[17] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

octagonal towers with internai staircases, after the 
style of the ordinary minaret, hâve been added. In 
explanation of this remarkable shape the Moslems 
tell a story how Ahmad Ibn Tulun, who considered 
it beneath his dignity to trifle in council, once by 
accident played with a roll of paper, and to conceal 
his momentary lapse asserted that he was making the 
model after which the minaret of his mosque should 
be built. Other writers, however, state that both the 
Mosque and its minaret were copied from the great 
Mosque of Samarra, which in Ahmad Ibn Tulun's 
time had been the metropolis of the Caliphate; and 
though Samarra quickly went to ruins when the su- 
premacy of Baghdad had been restored, we hear 
something of a wonderful minaret there, whence a 
view of the surrounding country could be obtained. 
Corbet-Bey imagines the form of the minaret to 
resemble that of Zoroastrian fîre-towers; and this 
suggestion seems to account for the occurrence of the 
type at Samarra, which it was natural for a pro- 
vincial governor to copy. The tower was at one time 
surmounted by a boat, standing by which, after the 
completion of his work, the Christian architect is 
said to hâve demanded his reward, which this time 
was amply accorded. The same ornament continued 
till May, 1694, when it was blown ofï in a gale, but it 
was afterwards for a time replaced. 

The total cost of the building is given unanîmously 
by our authorities as a sum which works out at about 
£60,000; and when Ahmad's subjects doubted 
whether this money had been lawfuUy obtained, and 

[i8] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

therefore whether the Mosque could safely be used 
for worship, the founder is said to hâve silenced their 
scruples by assuring them that it had ail been built 
out of treasure trove — money almost miraculously 
supplied by Heaven's favour. Taies are told of the 
magnificence of the décoration and furniture pro- 
vided for the inaugural ceremony; how it was even 
intended to encircle the Mosque with a line of 
ambergris, that the worshippers might always hâve 
a fragrant odour to delight their sensé. The dedi- 
catory inscription was engraved on more than one 
marble stèle, and parts of one of thèse hâve recently 
been rediscovered and fixed to one of the pillars of 
the sanctuary, opposite the mihrab, or niche, marking 
the direction of prayer. It runs as foUows: 

" In the name of, etc. The Emir Abu'l-Abbas 
Ahmad Ibn Tulun, client of the Commander of the 
Faithful, whose might, honour and perfect favour 
God prolong in this world and the next, commanded 
that this holy, happy Mosque be built for the Mos- 
lem community, out of legitimate and well-gotten 
v^ealth granted him by God. Desiring thereby the 
favour of God and the future world, and seeking 
that which will conduce to the glary of religion and 
the unity of the believers, and aspiring to build a 
house for God and to pay His due and to read His 
[Book, and to make perpétuai mention of Him; since 
God Almighty says: In houses which God has per- 
mitted to be raised, wherein His name is mentioned, 
and wherein praise is rendered unto Him morning 

[19] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

and evenîng by men that are distracted neither by 
merchandise nor by selling from making mention of 
God, reciting prayer and giving alms, fearing a day 
wherein the hearts and eyes shall be troubled, that 
God may reward them for the good that they hâve 
wrought, and may give them yet more ont of His 
bounty. And God bestows on whom He will with- 
out reckoning. In the month Ramadan of the year 
265. Exalt thy Lord, the Lord of might, over that 
which they ascribe to Him. And peace be on the 
messengers and praise unto God the Lord of the 
worlds. O God, he gracions unto Mohammed, and 
Mohammed's family, and bless Mohammed and his 
family even according to the best of Thy favour and 
grâce and blessing upon Abraham and his family. 
Verily Thou art glorious and to be praised." 

Of the history of the Mosque after Ahmad's time 
some notices are preserved. His suburb Kata'i, 
which contained not only his Mosque but also his 
vast palace and parade ground, was burned in 905; 
and as the surrounding locality became more and 
more deserted, the Mosque itself sufïered from 
neglect. The second of the Fatimide Caliphs is said 
to hâve replaced the fountain, which, as we hâve 
seen, was burned soon after its érection; but the 
désolation of the région reached its climax during 
the long reign of the Fatimide Mustansir, and the 
Mosque came to be used as a resting-place for Moor- 
ish caravans on their way to Mecca, who stabled their 
camels in the cloisters. Its use as a hostel was coun- 

[20] 







^^^ 



IN A CAIRENE STREET. 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

tenanced by the Egyptian rulers of the twelfth cen- 
tury, who even provided food for those who made ît 
their resting-place; such persons were also declared 
free from the ordinary tribunals, and told to appoint 
a judge of their own to settle any quarrels that might 
arise. 

Systematîc restoratîon was efïected by the Mame- 
luke Sultan Lajin, who, after murdering his master 
in the year 1294, ^^^^ refuge in the then desolate 
Mosque, and there vowed that, if he escaped his pur- 
suers and eventually came to power, he would restore 
it. Two years later, being raised to the throne of 
Egypt, he was in a position to fulfîl his promise; to 
which pious object he devoted a sum of about ten 
thousand pounds. He rebuilt the fountain in the 
centre of the court, turning it into a lavatory for the 
cérémonial ablution, and his building still remains; 
he provided a handsome mimbar or pulpit, of which 
some panels hâve found their way into the South 
Kensington Muséum; but the inscription which re- 
cords his munificence is still there. He repaved the 
colonnades and restored the plastering of the walls. 
He also provided the Mosque with endowments 
sufficient to support a variety of officiais, including 
professors of the chief Moslem sciences, and a school 
for children. Shortly after his time, early in the 
fourteenth century, the two minarets on the south 
side were built; and in 1370 the north colonnade 
was rebuilt, and perhaps the arches which connect 
the minaret which has been described with the 
Mosque were constructed. 

[23] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Under the dominion of the Turks the Mosque was 
again allowed to fall into neglect, and became a fac- 
tory for the production of wooUen goods; while in 
the nineteenth century it became a poorhouse for the 
aged and infirm, the arcades being built up and 
turned into a séries of cells, and the interior profaned 
and desecrated in every possible way. The poor- 
house was closed in 1877, and in 1890 the Committee 
for the Préservation of the Monuments of Arab Art 
succeeded in removing some traces of the injuries 
which the édifice had sustained, and it has ever since 
remained under their care. 

The period between the death of Ahmad Ibn 
Tulun in 884 to the foundation of Cairo in 969 was 
in the highest degree eventful, but the events which 
ît contained were of little conséquence for the subject 
of this book. The last days of Ahmad were embit- 
tered by the rébellion of one of his sons, who, being 
caught and imprisoned, was put to death shortly after 
the accession of another son, Khumaruyah, who 
reigned for thirteen years. He showed great com- 
pétence both as a diplomatist and as a soldier; he re- 
stored friendly relations between the courts of Egypt 
and Baghdad, and received in fief from the Caliph 
for the period of thirty years a vast empire stretching 
from Barca to the Tigris. Pie was, however, more 
famous for his magnificence than for his statesman- 
ship or his military skill. Wonderful taies are told 
of his palaces, his gardens and his ménageries; of 
walls f rescoed at his order with pictures of the ladies 
in his harem, with crowns on their heads; of trees 

[24] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

set in silver, and exotics brought to Egypt from ail 
parts; of a pond of mercury whereon was placed a 
bed of air-cushions, secured with silk and silver, that 
its perpétuai rocking might give him the sleep which 
bis physicians could not procure for him save by dis- 
tasteful remédies ; of the tame lion that guarded him 
sleeping; and of the wealth of Egypt expended on the 
dowry of bis daughter, sent to Baghdad to wed the 
Caliph. The pond of mercury is apparently no 
fiction, since it is recorded that after bis day men 
found the liquid métal ail about the site where it had 
stood. 

In 896 Khumaruyah was assassinated, it is said, in 
conséquence of some indulgence; and bis sons and 
other successors of bis f amily were quite incapable of 
managing great afïairs. Nine years after bis death 
Egypt was conquered by a force sent from Baghdad, 
and the surviving members of the line of Ahmad Ibn 
Tulun were carried captive to the metropolis on the 
Tigris. Such parts of Kata'i as remained after the 
fire had only the status of an annex to Postât. Once 
more the country was governed by a viceroy sent 
from Baghdad, with a finance minister equal to him 
in authority. 

The weakness of the Caliphate prevented this ar- 
rangement from working as it had worked in earlier 
times. Another Turk from Farghanah, similar in a 
variety of ways to Ahmad Ibn Tulun, utilised the 
favour of a vizier with whom he had contracted an 
alliance to obtain by fraud an appointment to the 
governorship of Egypt. In August, 935, this person 

[25] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

entered Egypt as governor, having defeated other 
aspirants to the office; and shortly afterwards he ob- 
tained permission from headquarters to assume the 
title Ikhshid, which in his native country stood for 
"king"; somewhat as in the nineteenth century the 
Egyptian viceroy got from his Turkish suzerain the 
right to style himself Khédive. An enterprising 
chieftain deprived the Ikhshid of the provinces of 
Syria and Palestine by force of arms; and his being 
confirmed in their possession by the Caliph provoked 
such resentment in the mind of the Ikhshid that he 
bethought him of abandoning the Prophet's succes- 
sor on the Tigris, and bestowing his homage on the 
pretender who was founding an empire in Western 
Islam. 

The Ikhshidi dynasty was of even shorter duration 
than that of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, and left in Egypt 
even less to perpetuate its name. Its founder was 
charged by his contemporaries with avarice and 
cowardice, neither of them a quality which helps to 
secure immortality. 

The System of slave rule, which, as has been seen, 
gave Egypt its best days, was anticipated in the inter- 
val between the death of the Ikhshid and the acces- 
sion of the Fatimides. Of two negroes brought from 
the Sudan to the Egyptian market one aspired to em- 
ployment in a cook shop, that he might never want 
food; the other aspired to become ruler of the coun- 
try, and each obtained his wish. Purchased for a 
small sum, and passing through the lowest stages of 
misery and dégradation, the latter rose finally by 

[26] 



CAIRO BEFORE THE FATIMIDES 

force of character to be the Ikhshid's fîrst minister 
and gênerai of his forces ; and on his master's death 
he contrived to keep the heirs in a state of tutelage 
to himself, and afterwards to seat himself on their 
throne; displaying throughout capacity for the man- 
agement of great afïairs. Kafur, "Camphor," 
whose name of itself indicated the servile condition 
of its owner, was not only master of Egypt, Syria 
and Arabia, but in one respect was the most fortunate 
of ail Oriental sovereigns. He obtained as his en- 
comiast the most famous of Arabie poets, known as 
al-Mutanabbi " the Prophetaster," at a time when 
the poet's powers were at their ripest; and although 
in conséquence of a dispute thèse brilliant panegyrics 
were speedily followed by no less brilliant and scath- 
ing satires, the portrait of Kafur that results is more 
complète and more familiar than that provided by 
the paid eulogiser of any other Sultan. 

It might be difficult to point out in Cairo any relie 
of the Ikhshidi period, though the idea of expanding 
Postât towards the north appears to hâve found sup- 
port while it lasted. Kafur laid out a vast park on 
the eastern bank of the Great Canal, containing a 
palace which formed his favourite résidence. After- 
wards, when Cairo was built, this park formed the 
garden of the Lesser Palace, constructed by the sec- 
ond of the Fatimide Sultans. And the Tibri Zawi- 
yah, restored by Shafak Nur, mother of the late 
Khédive Tewfik, is on the site of a small mosque 
built by one of Kafur's ministers. 

[29] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

^^^^^^HE rights of members of the Prophètes 
m C| house appeal to ail Moslems, and there 
^L 1 hâve always been multitudes among them 
^^^ holding that the succession should hâve 
fallen to the sons of his daughter rather than to the 
descendants of his uncle. At the time when the rep- 
résentatives of the latter in Baghdad had become 
puppets of foreign commanders, and the hold of 
Baghdad on Egypt as well as other provinces had 
become so lax as almost to be non-existent, a pretender 
to the succession through the Prophètes daughter had 
founded a kingdom in North Africa, which by con- 
quest was steadily approaching the Egyptian fron- 
tier. To the Moslem population of Egypt allegiance 
to such a monarch seemed far less humiliating than 
to such foreigners and slaves as had ruled over them 
since the fall of the Tulunids. During the disorders 
that broke out after the death of Kafur, a Jew who 
had been employed in some government office, and 
received rough treatment from one of Kafur's 
ephemeral successors, betook him to the capital of 
the North African dynasty, a place called Mahdiy- 
yah (or city of the Mahdi), and informed the pro- 

[30] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

fessed descendant of Ali and Fatimah there reigning 
that the time was ripe for the occupation of Egypt. 
On February 6, 969, an army was despatched unden 
one Jauhar, said to be a Greek by origin, who by July 
9 of the same year had crushed ail résistance, and 
taken possession of the old capital, Fostat. A formai 
procession of the troops was made on that day 
through the city, and they were quartered for the 
night on the plain to the north, where on the foUow- 
ing night the lines of the new city were drawn. The 
troops, for whom the new city was to provide a rési- 
dence, numbered a hundred thousand mounted men. 
The lines of the new city were determined by the 
canal, called the Canal of the Commander of the 
Faithful, which ran from Fostat towards the south- 
east, discharging at the port of Kulzum or Klysma. 
That is the dry canal (now the route of a tram-line) 
which bisects Cairo from south to north, the city 
having afterwards expanded on its western side, in 
the direction of the Nile, whose bed has since re- 
ceded considerably in the same direction. For many 
centuries the view over this canal was the favourite 
sight in Cairo, and wealthy persons used to build 
their houses where they could enjoy it. The eastern 
boundary was also a canal, called the canal of the 
Red Mountain; it must hâve silted up at no great 
length of time after the building of Cairo, and no 
trace of it exists. The southern boundary of the 
new city was Mount Mokattam, with the two ruined 
suburbs of Fostat called al-Askar and al-Kata'i. 
There was also a canal on this side, supposed to hâve 

[31] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

been dug by the first Moslem conqueror of Egypt. 
To the north there was no limit quite so definite, but 
the line was drawn well to the south of Ain Shams, 
and a canal was afterwards dug on this side also. so 
that the new city had moats on ail four sides. 

The lines drawn by Jauhar for the walls of the new 
city were found next morning to contain certain 
obliquities, but his belief in the auspiciousness of the 
moment chosen for their drawing prevented his after- 
wards rectifying them. Thèse obliquities were in 
any case very slight; the walls when built enclosed a 
city that was practically foursquare, and nearly true 
to the cardinal points. We shall try under the guid- 
ance of Casanova to trace the remains of the ancient 
walls and gâtes. 

The Southern wall that looked towards Fostat was 
pierced by the double gâte called Zuwailah about 
the middle, and at the southwestern angle by the gâte 
called Faraj (deliverance). On the west side there 
was a gâte called Sa'adat, after one of the Fatimide 
gênerais who had entered the city thereby. Two other 
gâtes were afterwards eut in this wall: one called 
Khukhah (the wicket) near the bridge by which the 
Mouski passes over the canal, and another the Gâte 
of the Bridge by which the canal was crossed at an 
earlier time. On the north side there were two 
gâtes, known as Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh (both 
meaning Gates of Victory) . On the east side there 
were also two called Barkiyyah and Mahruk re- 
spectively: the second of thèse names belongs to a 
later time. 

[32] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

Rather more than a hundred years later — în 1087 
lA. D. — it was found necessary to rebuild the walls, 
this time with burned bricks, the original walls hav- 
ing probably been of mud. This was done by the 
order of the Fatimide Caliph Mustansîr, and under 
the direction of his minister Badr al-Jamali, com- 
monly called Emiral-Juyush (Prince of the Armies). 
The lines of Jauhar's wall were closely followed, ex- 
cept that the northern wall was extended so as to 
include the Mosque of Hakim, which had been built 
outside the old wall. This involved the displacing 
of the Nasr and Futuh Gates. The southern wall 
was also displaced so that the Zuwailah Gâte was 
given its présent position. Thèse three gâtes were, 
it is said, built by three brothers from Edessa, prob- 
ably Syrian Christians. An inscription which at one 
time stood on the Bab Zuwailah stated that it had 
been erected in the year corresponding to 1091, 
whereas the Bab al-Nasr had been completed four 
years earlier. The former of thèse two gâtes was 
regarded as a masterpiece, unrivalled in the world 
for the size of its doors and the massiveness of the 
towers which def ended it. A legend made the leaves 
revolve on pivots stuck in disks of glass. When the 
Muayyad Mosque was built in ï/j.16, thèse towers 
were employed as the foundation 6ï the minarets, and 
much of the original construction on the side of the 
Mosque was reduced. The increase of traffic with 
the older town led to the wall at the side being 
demolished. The Committee has done much work 
upon the remains of the Gâte, and in 1900 brought to 

[33] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

light part of a Cufîc inscription, which is, however, 
purely religious in character and contains neither the 
name of the founder nor the date. 

Under the vault of the arch there used to be two 
chambers of which that to the west is still in existence 
and communicates with the Muayyad Mosque. 
Thèse chambers were used by the Egyptian sov- 
ereigns to watch varions spectacles of which this 
part of the city formed the théâtre, especially the 
starting and return of the Sacred Carpet {mahmil), 
Owing to the populousness of the région the gâte was 
used for a variety of purposes which demanded pub- 
licity, notably the exécution of criminals. Proces- 
sions regularly had their route between the Futuh 
and Zuwailah Gates. 

Eighty years later the great Saladin fînding the 
wall of Jauhar in ruins resolved to repair it. His 
idea was to build a single wall, which, starting from 
the Nile, should enclose both Postât and Cairo and 
return to the Nile. The commencement of the wall, 
as planned by the great Sultan, was from Maks or 
Maksim (a name derived probably from a Roman 
named Maximus), the port of Cairo on the Nile, 
where Hakim built a Mosque, called afterwards the 
Mosque of the Gâte of the Nile, or of the Sons of 
Anan. Pro:a, this'poiilt the new wall went directly 
to the Great Canal. West of the Canal it was pierced 
by the Bab Sha'riyyah, still marked on the plans, 
named, it is said, after a Berber tribe encamped in 
the neighbourhood. Traces of the wall of Saladin 
hâve been discovered by Casanova at various other 

[34] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

points. From the northeast corner of the old walI 
the northern wall was continued for some hundreds 
of mètres, as far as a point called Burj Zafar (Tower 
of Victory), a name apparently chosen to accord 
with those of the gâtes already piercing the north 
wall; the extended line after a space went back to 
résume the line of the older wall, slightly north of 
the Bab al-Barkiyyah. That gâte was, however, 
shifted to the east, as was also the case with the gâte 
called Bab Mahruk, while two new gâtes were con- 
structed called the New Gâte and the Vizier's Gâte. 
The Southern wall, running from the Citadel to the 
Nile, so as to enclose the Mosque of Amr, had four 
gâtes, called respectively after the Cemetery, Safa, 
Old Cairo and the Bridge. 

Of the gâtes that hâve been mentioned, three, Zu- 
wailah (now usually called Mutwalli), Futuh, 
and Nasr are fairly well preserved; the remainder 
no longer exist, but their names are preserved in the 
plans, and streets or spaces are called after them. 
The gâte which has been mentioned above with the 
name Mahruk (the Burned) is said to hâve been 
previously called the Forage-dealers' and to hâve 
changed its name owing to the foUowing circum- 
stance. On Thursday, September 27, 1254, ^^^ Emir 
Aktai, who had been planning to usurp the throne of 
the reigning Mameluke Aibek, was treacherously 
seized by the latter and assassinated within the 
Citadel. His followers, some seven hundred in num- 
ber, determined the following night to leave Cairo 
and start in the direction of Syria. Finding the 

[37] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Forage-dealers' Gâte locked, as usual at night, they 
set fire to it. When the gâte was afterwards replaced 
it was known as the Burned Gâte. 

A relie of Jauhar's work is left în the name Baîr 
al-Kasrain, " Between the two Palaces," sometimes 
given to the Nahhasin Street. One of the générales 
first tasks was to build a palace for his master, and 
the site selected was on the eastern side of the great 
avenue which bisected the new city. Opposite, on 
the other side of the avenue, were the gardens of 
Kafur, also containing the palace which that former 
sovereign of Egypt had occupied. The great East- 
ern Palace, as this was called, to distinguish it from 
the Western Palace built by the second Fatimide 
Caliph, was commenced the same night as that on 
which the lines of the walls were drawn. The vast 
building, or séries of buildings, was a city in itself, 
capable of containing 30,000 persons. A high wall, 
pierced with a number of gâtes, whose names are still 
preserved in some local appellations, screened it 
from the gaze of the populace; and from a distance 
it seemed comparable to a mountain. Dissatisfied 
with this great palace, the second of the Fatimide 
Caliphs built himself a smaller one opposite. It was 
an open rectangle, embracing a récréation ground, 
which fronted the avenue " Between the two 
Palaces." 

Thèse palaces, of which M. Ravaîsse has endeav- 
oured to reconstruct the gênerai plan, were occupied 
by the Fatimide Caliphs till the fall of the dynasty. 
When Saladin resolved to put an end to it, he 

[38] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

found, it is said, in the great Eastern Palace 12,000 
persons, ail of them women, with the sole exception 
of the Caliph and his sons, and other maies of the 
impérial family. It was assigned by Saladin to his 
ministers to dwell in; and it speedily went to rack 
and ruin. This was due to the building of the 
Citadel, which not only became the résidence of the 
ruler, but of necessity that of the chief ministers as 
well. 

The troops brought by Jauhar were assigned dif- 
férent quarters in the new city, where they proceeded 
to build. On the western side of the great avenue 
there were four quarters or Harahs — called respec- 
tively after Burjuwan, the Emirs, Jaudar and Zu- 
wailah. Four other quarters lay to the west of thèse, 
and between them and the canal; thèse were called 
Farahiyyah, Murtahiyyah, Akrad (Kurds) and 
Mahmudiyyah. Thèse names are mainly taken from 
either detachments of the army of Jauhar or from 
their captains. East of the Avenue there were the 
upper and lower quarter of the Greeks, to the north 
and south respectively; east of the grand palace the 
quarters of the chief gênerai ; south of it the quarters 
of the Dailemites and Turks; northeast of it the 
quarter called after Utuf, a black captain; west of 
it the Barkiyyah quarter. Other quarters were built 
by less fortunate troops outside the walls. 

According to the calculations of Ali Pasha Mu- 
barak, the length of each side of Jauhar's city was 
about 1200 mètres, and the area 340 feddans,* of 
which 70 feddans were occupied by the great palace, 

*4,2oo spuare mètres. 

[39] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

thirty-five by the garden of Kafur, thirty-five by the 
two parade grounds, and the remaining 200 by the 
soldiers' quarters. Between the western wall and the 
canal there was a distance of thirty mètres. The new 
walls built by Emir al-Juyush gave the city a further 
extension of sixty feddans. The addition to Cairo of 
the space west of the canal towards the Nile and to 
the south towards the city of Ahmad Ibn Tulun took 
place during the period of the Mamelukes. Mean- 
while the bed of the Nile has moved to a distance of 
something like a mile and a half west of its ancient 
course. The recovered land has gradually been built 
over, and by thèse repeated extensions the area of 
Cairo has reached something like six times that of 
the original city. 

The early years of the Fatimide Caliphs were dis- 
turbed by the attacks of the Carmathians, against 
whom, as we hâve seen, Jauhar found it necessary to 
fortify Cairo with a séries of trenches in addition to 
his wall. In origin the Carmathians and the Fati- 
mides appear to hâve been the same, but the sects 
had become divided in the course of the century dur- 
ing which the former had been thriving in the West, 
while the original community had been devastating 
Arabia and the Eastern provinces of the Caliphate. 
Both followed a System of mysticism, one part of 
which was to assign rights, more or less approximat- 
ing to the divine, to the family of Ali, the Frophet's 
cousin and son-in-law; but whereas the practice of 
statesmanship had reduced the fanaticism of the 
Fatimides, their Eastern brethren were iconoclasts 

[40] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

and persecutors of as véhément a sort as ever arose în 
Islam. At the period of the Fatimide conquest of 
Egypt the leader of the Carmathians, al-Aasam, had 
bis headquarters in al-Ahsa on the Persian Gulf, but 
was in relations with the Caliph of Baghdad, and 
even employed forces nominally subject to the 
Caliph in wresting from Egyptian rule Damascus 
and other Syrian cities. The disturbed state of the 
reign formerly held by the Ikhshidis enabled the 
Carmathian leader to gain a séries of victories, till 
in October, 971, bis army was encamped at Ain 
Shams in the immédiate neighbourhood of Cairo. 
The skill of the Fatimide gênerai was now put to a 
greater test than it had to undergo when he was sent 
to conquer Egypt, but it proved equal to the occasion. 
Sorties were organised by him on November 19 and 
20, in the second of which a severe defeat was in- 
flicted on the Carmathian leader, who was compelled 
to retreat to al-Ahsa, fînding that in conséquence of 
his failure he was defeated by varions Arab tribes 
who had gladly joined his plundering expéditions. 
The land victory was foUowed by one over the 
Carmathian fleet at Tinnis, and in Syria, too, at- 
tempts were made to shake ofï the Carmathian yoke. 
Al-Aasam, however, had no intention of giving vvay 
without another struggle, and the Fatimide Caliph, 
whose arrivai was hastened by the représentations 
made to him by his gênerai concerning the Carma- 
thian trouble, found himself a year af ter his enthrone- 
ment besieged in his capital, while varions Carma- 
thian corps ravaged lower Egypt. Al-Aasam was 

[41] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

again compelled to raise the siège, chiefly through 
the timely administration by the enemy of bribes to 
some of his shifty allies. 

Egypt was thus delivered from the Carmathîans; 
but the possession of Syria was not yet secured for 
the Egyptian sovereigns. When the first Caliph 
Muizz died at the end of 975, his son and successor 
Aziz found himself threatened in Syria by an enemy 
who had succeeded to the inheritance of the Carma- 
thians. This was a Turk, Aftakin, who, as com- 
mander of a force of mercenaries which had been in 
the employ of the Eastern Sultan and had mutinied, 
had in the spring of 975 become master of Damascus, 
where by justice and capacity he had made himself 
popular, and presently found himself strong enough, 
with the aid of disaffected Carmathians, to endeavour 
to extend his rule over ail Syria. In July, 976, Jau- 
har was sent by the advice of Jacob, son of Killis 
(the Jew who had originally summoned the Fati- 
mides to invade Egypt), to deal with this new enemy, 
and he besieged Damascus for two months. Aftakin 
was fînally persuaded by the Damascenes to invoke 
the aid of the Carmathians, who were now under 
another chief. The resuit of this alliance was that 
Jauhar had presently to raise the siège of Damascus, 
and was soon himself shut up in Askalon where his 
army sufïered great privations. Jauhar in thèse cir- 
cumstances in some way got to the car of Aftakin, 
who, against the judgment of his Carmathian col- 
league, was persuaded to allow Jauhar's army to de- 
part without apparently having made any conditions 

[42] 







/, 



m 






'W 



o 



».#< 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

of peace. They were met on theîr return by a new 
army equipped by the Caliph Azîz, who advanced 
with them to Ramlah, where in the summer of 977 a 
fierce engagement took place, ending in the defeat of 
Aftakin and the Carmathians, who are said to hâve 
lost 20,000 men. In spite of this success, the Egyp- 
tian Caliph was content to stave ofï further attacks 
by the ofïer of a yearly tribute. Aftakin, who 
through treachery was taken captive by the Caliph, 
was treated honourably and even admitted to the 
circle of the Caliph's advisers: a fact which is said to 
hâve so roused the jealousy of the Vizier Jacob, son 
of Killis, that he caused this possible rival to be 
poisoned about four years after his capture. We 
should gladly try to exonerate this capable prosélyte 
from so grave a charge, but his career makes it im- 
probable that he was troubled with more scruples 
than Marlowe's Jew of Venice. Still he seems to 
hâve served his Caliph faithfully, who found him 
indispensable, being obliged to restore him to office 
whenever he tried to cashier him, and who, on his 
death in 990, fasted for three days and gave him the 
most honourable interment. 

The accounts that are handed down of this person's 
possessions give a vivid idea of the amount which it 
was possible for a minister of state to accumulate. 
He left jewels, coined wealth, goods of varions kinds 
and estâtes valued at about two million pounds; his 
harem, containing 800 wives, came near rivalling 
Solomon's; and there was a dowry of about 100,000 
pounds left for his daughter. Besides this he had 

[45] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

foUowed the plan adopted by yet earlier ministers, 
and destined to influence the désunies of Egypt in the 
future, of forming a bodyguard, which in his case 
had risen to the number of 4000 Mamelukes; they 
were housed in barracks which formed a street called 
iVizier Street, and even after Jacob's death were net 
disbanded. 

The other founder of the Fatîmide Empire în 
Egypt, Jauhar, survived him rather more than a 
year, dying at the beginning of 992. His relations 
with his master continued f riendly to the end, but his 
ill-success in the Syrian expédition appears to hâve 
definitely tarnished his laurels. 

For several years Aziz was occupied with the 
conquest of Syria, where the Hamdanide Saad al- 
Daulah, whose capital was at Aleppo, managed to 
maintain himself, and on his death in 991 was suc- 
ceeded by his son, Abu'l-Fada'il. This sovereign 
endeavoured to obtain the help of the Greek emperor 
against the Egyptian invaders, and such help was 
readily given, since the maintenance of Antioch in 
Christian hands depended on the possibility of play- 
ing ofï one Moslem power against the other. Aleppo 
after a siège of thirteen months by Aziz's gênerai was 
set free by the timely aid of the Emperor Basil. The 
plans, however, of this Caliph were interrupted by 
his death in the year 996, when his son Mansur, 
known as Hakim, was placed on the throne, being 
eight years of âge. 

The practice of pnoclaiming minors was destined 
to be followed many times, chiefly during the Marne- 

[46] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

luke dynasties, when it usually led to the throne being 
seized after a few days or months by an ambitious 
minister. Such a coup d'état was suggested on this 
occasion to the minister Burjuwan the Slave, who had 
been appointed régent by the last Caliph's dying dis- 
positions ; but he did not consent to carry it out. He 
was, however, soon involved in a struggle with his 
colleague, the Commander of the Forces, which 
again were divided into two camps of Moors and 
Syrians including Turks. Burjuwan succeeded in 
getting the upper hand and displacing his colleague, 
who was presently assassinated by the Turks. 

Burjuwan maintained his regency for about four 
years, and managed afïairs successfully. He recov- 
ered Syria, pacified Damascus, and after defeating 
the Greeks made a truce with their emperor for ten 
years. But his protégé Hakim developed the quali- 
ties of an eastern tyrant at an early âge, and fînding 
the restraint of Burjuwan intolérable, intrigued with 
two other ministers, who assassinated him. Hakim 
was at this time twelve years of âge. Though com- 
pelled to tolerate another régent, as usual the assassin 
of the last, he required that ail pétitions should be 
addressed to himself, and that the new régent should 
make no pretensions to îndependence. Ere his thir- 
teenth year was at an end, he began the séries of ex- 
travagant ordinances and régulations which were 
continued through the whole of his reign and hâve 
won him the title " Caligula of the East." His de- 
light in bloodshed was utilised by his ministers for 
the purpose of getting rid of rivais, but those who 

[47] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

gratifîed their resentments in this way quickly fell 
victims in their turn. Thus Burjuwan's assassin sur- 
vived him little more than three years. 

As this Caliph began to assert his independence, 
the people of Egypt became subjected to as much 
cruelty and purposeless annoyance as can ever hâve 
f allen to the lot of any nation ; though the instability 
of the tyrant's purpose and the perpétuai veering of 
his inclinations may hâve done something to relieve 
them. At times he amused himself with oppressing 
Jews and Christians, at times they were the objects 
of his favour. At times he ordered that day should 
be turned into night, and vice versa; at times no one 
was to be allowed about after dark. Dumb animais, 
and even plants, v^ere often the object of his resent- 
ment. 

One whim of Hakim's cost the Christians many 
churches, for at one period he demanded that ail 
those in Egypt should be demolished, and he ex- 
tended his iconoclasm to the ancient and much 
venerated Church of the Résurrection in Jérusalem. 
Jews and Christians were compelled to adopt Islam 
under penalty of having to carry heavy weights in 
the form of a calf or a cross. An amusement of this 
monster was the hacking of young children to pièces; 
a remonstrance against which cruelty cost a gênerai 
who had saved Hakim's throne his life. Viziers and 
other officers were honoured, tortured or executed 
according to the Caliph's caprice. 

In spite of the character of Hakim's rule few 
serious attempts seem to hâve been made to rid Egypt 

[48] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

of hîm. Apparently the hatred between the Moor- 
ish and Syrian éléments in his army was so great that 
he could always rely on one or other of them în the 
event of disafifection spreading. Nor does it appear 
that any opponent of tyranny could build on the ordî- 
nary resentment inspired by the Caliph's acts; any- 
one who opposed him on the ground of nearer descent 
from the prophet could perhaps get together some 
allies. Two attempts to substitute a new dynasty for 
that of Hakîm on this principle were made by pre- 
tenders from Barcah and Meccah respectively; the 
former of thèse came near succeeding, but Hakim 
found a gênerai capable of defeating him. The 
latter was rendered innocuous by administering 
bribes. The persons who joined in thèse revolts 
were, moreover, not the sufïerers from the Caliph's 
tyranny, but hordes of free Arabs, whose fickleness 
ruined any cause that they temporarily took up. Nor 
can we find that Hakim's cruelties inspired much, îf 
any, horror in his contemporaries, since varions 
princes voluntarily put themselves under his suze- 
rainty. 

Toward the end of his reign he was possessed of 
the same ambition as had formerly seized Caligula 
— the désire to be regarded as a god. Missionaries 
sprang up in Cairo who taught the new doctrine of 
the divinity of Hakim, and demanded that it should 
be recognised. This claim seemed at last to rouse 
the submissive people of Cairo to indignation, and 
several of the missionaries and their adhérents were 
murdered. Hakim avenged himself by again tak- 

[49] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

ing the Jews and Christians into favour, allowing the 
forced converts to return to their former religions, 
and rebuild their churches and synagogues; and in 
addition, permitting his Sudanese troops to indulge 
in ail sorts of excesses with the Moslem population. 
At times the other troops took the side of the popu- 
lace against the Sudanese, and in the course of the 
skirmishes which ensued much destruction was 
wrought. 

The deliverance of the people of Egypt came by 
the hand of an assassin in the year 1021. AU that 
is known is that Hakim rode out one evening to the 
Karafa, or cemetery, on an ass with a small escort, 
and never returned. The ass was afterwards found 
in a mutilated condition, and the tracking of foot- 
steps led to the discovery of Hakim's clothes. The 
assassination is ascribed to a sister of Hakim's, who 
was indignant at his résolve to appoint a distant rela- 
tion as his successor to the exclusion of his own son. 
She is credited with having organised the assault, 
and afterwards got rid of the person who carried it 
out. As she further had a number of innocent per- 
sons murdered, because they refused to acknowledge 
to having had a share in the assassination, she appears 
to hâve been a worthy sister to the tyrant. The 
rumour that Hakim still lived and would return at 
some time was even more persistent than a similar 
fancy about Nero. There are sects that still believe 
in Hakim's existence and destined return. It is 
marvellous that they should désire it. 

His successor, who took the name al-Zahir, was 

[50] 




SHARlA-EL-AZilAK, CAIKO. 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

rather more than fourteen years of âge, and was put 
on the throne by hîs aunt who, like so many Egyptian 
princesses, from immémorial tîmes, took an active 
part in politics. She managed to maintain herself 
in the regency for four years, during which she 
showed more skill in organising exécutions than in 
securing Egyptian rule over the provinces; still 
neither she nor her nephew exercised whimsical 
tyranny after the style of Hakim, except on rare oc- 
casions. Zahir reigned in ail fîfteen years and eight 
months, and before his death recovered nearly ail 
Syria, which in the early years of his reign had been 
the prey of a variety of usurpers. 

The fourth Fatimide Caliph died of the plague in 
1036; his successor Mustansir was aged seven years 
at the time of his accession, so that the real power 
fell to his mother, who was a black slave, and her 
former master, a Jewish curiosity dealer, named 
Abraham. For a time this person, through the 
Caliph's mother, appointed the viziers, among them 
a former co-religionist who had adopted Islam; this 
person, however, found the means of getting rid of 
his benefactor, and presently himself fell a victim to 
the resentment of the Caliph's mother. The reign 
of Mustansir was distinguished by the commence- 
ment of a bodyguard of black f reedmen, got together 
by the Caliph, it is supposed because, being of the 
same race as his mother, their ifîdelity could be 
trusted. 

Mustansir was particularly f avoured by having his 
cause taken up by varions adventurers in différent 

[53] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

parts of the Moslem empire, of whom one incorpo- 
rated Yemen in the Egyptian realm, while another 
even took Baghdad, and for a time obtained récogni- 
tion of the Fatimide Caliph in the metropolis of his 
rival. This event, which had been caused by dissen- 
sions in the family of the Seljuks, who at that time 
were suprême in the Eastern Caliphate, was of short 
duration, partly because the adventurer who had 
taken Baghdad excited the envy of Mustansîr's 
Vizier, who refused further supplies to his rival, 
partly because the military talents of the Seljuk 
prince were equal to the emergency. 

Meanwhile Egypt wa5 troubled by the rivalries 
between the Turkish and negro éléments of the 
Caliph's bodyguard, which broke out into open war. 
The resuit was long doubtful, but finally was in 
f avour of the Turks, commanded by Nasir al-Daulah. 
The claims of the Turkish praetorians became, in con- 
séquence of their victory, excessive, and a dispute 
arose between their commander, Nasir al-Daulah, 
and the Caliph, which ended in the latter f alling com- 
pletely under the formeras control, who even threat- 
ened to restore Egypt to the suzerainty of Baghdad. 
This person's rule, which ended with his assassina- 
tion in 1073, was accompanied by great misery; the 
palace of the Caliph was repeatedly plundered, and 
its vast library partly burned and partly handed over 
to pillagers; and the Caliph himself was reduced to 
absolute poverty, so that his wife and daughters had 
finally to flee to Baghdad to avoid starvation. It is 
uncertain whether Nasir al-Daulah's ambition was 

[54] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

to become governor of Egypt for the Abbasîds, or 
whether he aimed at founding a dynasty of hîs own. 
After bis assassinatîon the condition of the Caliph 
did not at first better itself ; in despair he put himself 
into the hands of Badr al-Jamali, an Armenian freed- 
man who had served as Governor of Damascus and 
Acre, and who had provided himself with an Ar- 
menian bodyguard; this person accepted the Caliph's 
invitation to settle the afïairs of Egypt, w^hich he be- 
gan in old Arab style by summoning ail the existing 
officiais to a feast and murdering them. With bis 
unscrupulousness, however, he combined both mili- 
tary and administrative ability of a high order, and 
by quelling rébellion everywhere and seeing to the 
proper administration of justice he brought back a 
fair degree of prosperity. 

During the rule of Badr al-Jamalî the walls of 
Cairo w^ere, as v^e bave seen, rebuilt; but though 
Egypt prospered, the Fatimides lost Syria, which 
was first conquered by a usurper named Athiz, who 
iwent so far as to invade Egypt, where Badr defeated 
him; bis Syrian conquests then fell into the power of 
the Seljuk Tutush, from whom Badr was able to re- 
cover a few towns. But Damascus remained in Sel- 
juk hands. 

Mustansir died in 1094, having reigned over sixty 
years, more than any other Oriental Caliph or Sul- 
tan. Like Khumaruyah he appears to bave dis- 
played some ingenuity in devising new forms of 
pleasure, but otherwise he exhibited no compétence. 
Before order was restored by the Armenian troops 

[55] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the country was devastated by the Berbers, negroes, 
Turks and Syrians who formed the différent corps of 
the Caliph's army ; Egyptian troops nowhere figure in 
the list. 

The death of Mustansir was followed by a struggle 
for the succession, in which, however, the youngest 
son of the late Caliph, being supported by Badr's son 
and successor, al-Afdal, was victorious; he was pro- 
claimed with the title Musta'li. Al-Afdal put him- 
self into communication with the Crusaders, and un- 
dertook to aid them in defeating the Seljuks; and, 
indeed, he succeeded in retaking Jérusalem and some 
other places in Syria. This was before he was aware 
of the intentions of the Crusaders with regard to 
Jérusalem; when that place, in 1099, fell into their 
hands, and the whole population of Moslems was 
massacred, al-Afdal found his dominions threatened 
by the Franks, and had to retire to Egypt, leaving 
Syria to the invaders. By i loi the bulk of the towns 
which had had Egyptian garrisons had fallen into 
their hands. The same year Musta'li died, and was 
succeeded by his son al-Amir, then an infant five 
years old. Al-Afdal acted as régent, and governed 
Egypt well for twenty years. His attempts, how- 
ever, to withstand the Franks in Syria and in Pales- 
tine were unsuccessful, and towns which had re- 
mained in Egyptian hands, such as Ptolemais and 
Tripoli, were compelled to surrender. 

In II 17 the Crusaders for the first time invaded 
Egypt itself, but had to quit it the next year, having 
efîfected little. In 1121 the Caliph, who was now of 

[56] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

âge, feeling tired of the régent, found means to hâve 
him assassinated; his possessions were then confis- 
cated, and it was found that he had enriched himself 
beyond even the by no means contemplatible per- 
formances of previous viziers. He was succeeded in 
his office by the man who had been employed to 
organise the murder, Ibn Fatik al-Bata'ihi, who had 
risen from the ranks. In 1125, he, too, was got rid 
of by the Caliph, though only imprisoned, and the 
latter proceeded to govern personally without the aid 
of a vizier. His rule was exceedingly arbitrary and 
vexations, and he involved himself in much blood- 
shed; his end was however brought on, not by the 
resentment of his subjects, but by fanatics of a sect 
who held that his father's elder brother Nizar had 
been wrongly displaced. By one of thèse he was 
assassinated in 11 30. 

He was succeeded by a cousin who took the tîtle 
Hafiz, and was compelled to employ as his vizier 
Ahmad the son of the murdered al-Afdal and grand- 
son of Badr al-Jamali. This vizier enjoyed his 
honours for a little more than a year, during which 
he had made himself detested by insolence towards 
the Caliph, and an endeavour to modify the current 
form of religion; like his father he was got out of 
the way by assassination. According to custom an 
Armenian freedman Yanis, who had organised the 
attack on the former vizier, was installed in his vic- 
tim's place. A year's time brought him into con- 
flict with the Caliph who resorted to a subtle form of 
poison to relieve himself of the vizier. Hafiz shortlyi 

[57] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

after had to deal wîth an Absalom in the shape of hîs 
son Hasan, who fought pitched battles with his 
younger brother and then with troops summoned to 
défend his father; he was victorious and forced his 
father to name him successor, and to hand over to 
him the reins of authority, but his conduct quickly 
gave ofïence ; he was compelled to take refuge with 
his father within the palace, and a Jewish and a 
Christian physician were summoned to administer 
poison to him; the Jew refused, but the Christian 
provided what was required. In conséquence the 
Christian was presently executed by the Caliph's 
order, and his property given to the Jew who became 
sole court physician. The army, which by this time 
claimed the right to make ail appointments of a 
political nature, gave the post of vizier to an Ar- 
menian Christian named Bahram, and he filled most 
of the subordinate posts with Armenians, who, in 
spite of their religion, hâve frequently formed the 
cabinets of Moslem rulers. His power lasted from 
1135 to 1137. An adventurer named Ridwan then 
gathered an army and displaced him; his power also 
lasted two years only, after which he was compelled 
by Hafiz to flee from Cairo to Syria, where he col- 
lected an army in the hope of recovering Egypt; after 
a variety of adventures, combining successes and f ail- 
ures, he was assassinated in 1148. The Caliph him- 
self died in 1149. 

He was f ollowed by hîs youngest son Ismaîl, called 
Zafîr, who was seventeen years old at the time. In 
character he was no stronger than his predecessors, 

[58] 






COURTYARD OF THE MOSQUE OF EL AZHAK, UNIVERSITY OF CAIRO. 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

and the vizierate was seized by an ambitions gover- 
nor of Alexandria, named Ibn Sallar, who presently- 
was murdered by bis stepson, who in bis turn was in- 
stalled in tbe dangerous office. This épisode cost tbe 
Fatimides Askalon, tbeir last possession in Palestine, 
wbicb, owing to tbe disputes between tbe rival parties 
was taken by tbe Crusaders. 

Zafir was, after a reign of four years, murdered by 
bis favourite Nasr, tbe son of tbe Vizier Abbas, wbo 
tben proceeded to make away witb tbe brotbers of 
tbe Calipb, and to place on tbe tbrone bis infant son, 
Isa, called Fa'iz. He attempted to govern independ- 
ently, but gave dissatisfaction and was sbortly com- 
pelled to flee before a Soutb Egyptian governor, 
Tala'i Ibn Ruzzik, wbo came witb an army to Cairo 
and usurped tbe office of vizier. Tbe youtbful 
Calipb, wbo sufïered from epileptic fîts, occasioned 
by tbe violence wbicb accompanied bis accession, 
died at tbe âge of eleven in tbe year 1160. 

Tbe vizier, after tbe ordinary custom, appointed 
to tbe vacant Calipbate a cbild, cousin of tbe de- 
ceased, wbo was nine years of âge, and was given tbe 
title Adid; witb bim tbe Fatimide Calipbate was 
destined to terminate. According to tbe ordinary 
custom also tbe Calipb soon grew tired of tbe regency 
of tbe vizier, and bired persons to assassinate bim, 
and as tbe vizier lived after tbe attempt on bis life 
long enougb to avenge bimself, tbe Calipb bad tbe 
baseness to lay tbe blâme on bis aunt and band ber 
over to exécution. Tbe vizierate was seized by tbe 
son of tbe murdered man, wbo, bowever, was speedilyj] 

[61] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

displaced by the governor of Upper Egypt, Shawar, 
a man who had already figured as a person of impor- 
tance in previous reigns; who ère long had to give 
way to another usurper, Dirgham, head of a corps 
formed by Tala'i, whose conduct soon made his fol- 
lowers wish Shawar back. The disturbed state of 
Egypt gave the Crusaders an opportunity to efifect a 
landing, do much damage, and only retire on promise 
of tribute. Meanwhile Shawar had found an ally 
in the Prince of Damascus, and in 1164 returned to 
Egypt with an army commanded by a gênerai of the 
latter named Shirguh; after a month's résistance 
Dirgham found himself deserted, and both he and 
his brothers met their deaths. After the joint enter- 
prise of Shawar and Shirguh had been crowned with 
success, the two fell out, and since Shawar did not 
shrink from applying for the help of the Crusaders, 
Shirguh was compelled to return to Syria. Early in 
II 67 he returned with an army of 2000 picked men, 
with whose aid he won a décisive victory over the 
united forces of Shawar and the Franks at Ush- 
munain in the same year. It is in this battle that 
we first hear of Saladin, sent by Nur al-din, the 
Prince of Damascus, accompanying and aiding his 
uncle Shirguh. After the battle Saladin was ap- 
pointed by his uncle governor of Alexandria, where 
he was presently besieged by the united forces of 
Shawar and his Frankish allies. The news that 
Shirguh had commenced the siège of Cairo induced 
the parties to make peace, and by the end of the year 
Shirguh had withdrawn to Damascus. Meanwhile 

[62] 



THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

a Frankish garrison was admitted into Cairo to make 
sure of the tribute which had been promised the 
Crusaders as the priée of their assistance, and treated 
the inhabitants with great harshness. The ill-con- 
tent of the inhabitants led to the summoning of Nur 
al-din from Syria by the Caliph, while on the other 
hand a Frankish army came from the north of Egypt 
and began to lay siège to Cairo. On this occasion 
occurred the burning of Fostat, which was described 
above. The Franks were bribed by Shawar to re- 
tire; but Shirguh's forces were received with joy by 
the people of Cairo, and in a short time after their 
arrivai Shawar was, at Saladin's instance, attacked 
and put to death. Shirguh, who got his place, oc- 
cupied it only two months, since in March, 1168, he 
fell a victim to gluttony. After some claims being 
put forward by other candidates, Saladin was 
chosen to succeed him as vizier and governor of the 
Egyptian Empire. Saladin was an earnest fol- 
lower of the Sunni doctrines, on opposition to which 
the Fatimide throne was based; he therefore ap- 
pointed persons of his own persuasion to the chief 
posts in Egypt, and constantly reduced the sphère of 
activity of the Caliph. As usual he was threatened 
with an insurrection, but was able to suppress it; and 
with the aid of his chief, Nur al-din, raised the siège 
of Damietta, which had been besieged by the Franks 
with a powerful force. His further exploits in deal- 
ing with the Crusaders are well known. At the be- 
iginning of 1171 Saladin fînally consented to a step 
which Nur al-din had been long urging on him, that 

[63] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of substituting in the Friday prayer the name of the 
Baghdad Caliph for that of the Fatimide Adid; and 
Adid, who was ill at the time, fortunately died a few 
days after, and never heard of his dethronement and 
the loss of the impérial title to his family. Mean- 
while steps had been taken to substitute orthodox for 
Shi'ite judges, and also to found schools and collèges 
where the younger génération should be brought 
up in Sunnite principles. Though Adid was but 
twenty-one years at his deatH he lef t several children, 
two of whom found some partisans; but their at- 
tempts to regain the throne were unsuccessful and 
disastrous to their followers. 

The history of the Fatimides bears a close resem- 
blance to that of the Baghdad Caliphs, except that 
the Abbasid family appears to hâve produced far 
more able men,and the mayors of the palace in the lat- 
tercase succeeded in founding dynasties of some dura- 
tion, unlike the ephemeral vizierates of the Fatimide 
Empire. The plan of appointing infants to the 
throne in order to permit the ministers a free hand 
will meet us repeatedly. The results were ordinarily 
disastrous to both minister and sovereign. 



T64] 



BUILDINGS OF THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

ONE of the earliest cares of Jauhar, the con- 
queror of Egypt for the Fatimides, was to 
build a mosque for public worship, and 
this project was the commencement of the 
famous al-Azhar. It took about two years to erect, 
and was finished June 14, 972. It was not at first a 
literary institution any more than any other mosque; 
ail such places had from the beginning of Islam 
served as rendezvous for savants, and places where 
those who undertook to interpret the Koran or recite 
traditions could establish themselves. The line be- 
tween religions and secular studies was not drawn 
during the early centuries of Islam; men made cir- 
cles in the mosques for the purpose of reciting verses, 
or telling literary anecdotes, as well as for instruction 
of a more decidedly edifying character. The first 
mosque ever built in Islam, that of the Prophet at 
Medinah, had served a number of purposes for which 
separate buildings were deemed necessary in more 
specialising days: it had not only been church and 
school, but town hall, hospice and hospîtal as well. 
Since politics and religion could not be kept distinct, 

[65] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the mosque was the place where announcements of 
importance respecting the commonwealth might be 
made. The ideas connected with it in some ways re- 
sembled those which attach to a church, in others 
were more like those which are connected with a syn- 
agogue, but the peculiar évolution of Islam furnished 
it with some which those other buildings do not share. 

The person who conceived the idea of turning the 
fîrst mosque of the new city into a university was the 
astute couvert from Judaism who had suggested to 
the Fatimide sovereign that the time was ripe for the 
conquest of Egypt, and had been rewarded for his 
advice by being made vizier. Having been born in 
Baghdad in the year 930, he had come to Egypt in 
942, where he got employment in the office of one of 
Kafur's ministers; in this capacity he obtained the 
notice of Kafur, who promoted him from one office 
to another till he became chief treasurer. In 967 he 
embraced Islam, and took into his house a tutor who 
could give him regular instruction in the matters 
which a Moslem gentleman should know. Once 
vizier, he followed the example of many who had 
previously held that high office, in becoming a patron 
of learning and belles lettres; on Thursday evenings 
he regularly held a salon in his house for the recita- 
tion of his own compositions, and also for reunion of 
ail the savants of Cairo. 

The notion, however, of Jacob, son of Killis, in 
encouraging learning was somewhat deeper than that 
which had inspired many other viziers. Since the 
Fatimide dynasty had succeeded in virtue of its reli- 

[66] 



BUILDINGS OF THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

gious claims, it was necessary to provide for its main- 
tenance by a body of literature comparable with that 
which the supporters of the rival Caliph could dis- 
play, and which enjoyed widespread respect and au- 
thority owing to the long séries of venerated names 
concerned with its composition and perpétuation. 
Thèse authoritative books once provided, and ar- 
rangements being made whereby their study could 
be encouraged and maintained, no mean dam would 
be provided against inundation from without. The 
books therefore he composed himself ; the University 
was to secure that they should be properly studied 
and interpreted. 

In 988, when the second Fatimide Caliph was 
reigning, Jacob Ibn Killis requested his master to 
provide a grant for the maintenance of a fixed num- 
ber of scholars. The Caliph Aziz assented; provi- 
sions were made for thirty-five students, and a house 
adjoining Jauhar's Mosque secured for their lodging. 

Thus began al-Azhar, whose name is thought to 
hâve been selected out of compliment to the supposed 
foundress of the Fatimide line, Fatimah, honourably 
called al-Zahra (the luminous), of which word 
Azhar is the masculine. This year's statistics give 
9758 as the présent number of students, with 317 pro- 
fessors. At times the numbers of both hâve been 
still greater. Political events led to its diversion 
from its original purpose as a school of heresy to its 
becoming the great centre of Moslem orthodoxy; but 
what circumstance it was that enabled it to éclipse 
ail its rivais is not so clear. We understand why the 

[69] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Unîversity of Cairo should hâve survived those of 
Spain and those of Irak. Caîro was the metropolis 
of Islam when those countries could no longer con- 
taîn one, and the city to which it handed over îts 
headship, Constantinople, spoke a foreign tongue and 
not the original language of Mohammedanism. 
iBut in Cairo îtself there were so many rivais at ail 
periods; in the period of the later Mamelukes every 
sovereign, almost, built and liberally endowed a col- 
lège to perpetuate his name. Probably al-Azhar 
superseded the others in virtue of its antiquity and 
the réputation w^hich it v^on. Its name vv^as known 
ail over the Mohammedan w^orld ; the others scarcely; 
got the chance to become fashionable. 

The second founder of al-Azhar was the mad 
Hakim, w^hose madness did not prevent his under- 
standing the importance of learning. He himself 
founded three mosques, and got together a great 
library, v^hich once occupied part of the Eastern 
Palace. The purpose of this last institution was in 
the main to spread the tenets of his dynasty and his 
own variations of them. His deed of gift is pre- 
served in full, and contains a number of détails as to 
the nature of the moneys bestowed and the mode in 
which they were to be administered. The deed con- 
tains his benefactions to his three mosques, to al- 
Azhar, and to his public library or academy. To 
the share of the Azhar there fell, besides books, three 
public buildings in the older city; for it was the cus- 
tom at this time and long after in Egypt to settle on 
religious institutions not lands, but the rents of houses 

[70] 



BUILDINGS OF THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

or shops. The trustées were, whenever necessary, to 
advertise the buildings for hire, to keep them in good 
repair with the proceeds, and to make a number 
of specified payments out of the remainder. The 
Preacher of the Mosque was to hâve seven dinars 
'(perhaps 75 francs) a month; other sums were to be 
expended on matting, glass, incense and other scents, 
camphor, wax, etc., and certain sums were to be set 
aside for payment of persons employed in sweeping, 
Tepairing, cleaning, etc. Three leaders of prayer, 
four other religions officiais and fifteen mueddins 
were to hâve between them 556 dinars; other sums 
were set apart for the hospice. Even such détails 
as dusters for cleaning the lamps, buckets for scour- 
ing and brooms for sweeping were provided for by 
specified payments to come out of the benefactions. 

The plan of the original Mosque bore some re- 
semblance to that of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, being 
a rectangle with the sanctuary side wider and there- 
fore supported by more rows of columns than the 
rest; but in the case of al-Azhar piers were not used, 
their place being taken by 380 columns of différent 
materials, marble, porphyry and granité, with bases 
and capitals of différent styles. Though it was f re- 
quently restored and repaired, additions seem to hâve 
been made only in comparatively late times. The 
Caliph Mustansir is mentioned as one of its bene- 
factors; and in the time of the Mameluke Baibars I 
an Emir, Izz al-din Idumir, restored walls and col- 
umns, plastered the former afresh, and repaired roof 
and pavement. In 1303 it, with several other mosques, 

[71] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

was partly demolished by an earthquake; the Emir 
Sallar undertook the restoration of what had fallen. 
A fresh restoration was undertaken in the year 1360 
by Bashir the cup-bearer; he built an establishment 
for the provision of drinking-water on the south side, 
with a school for poor children above it. In 1382 
fresh émoluments were provided by a law that prop- 
erty of ail intestate résidents of the Mosque should 
fall to it. 

From the fîrst it had been the custom of students 
who had no other lodging in Cairo to live in the 
Mosque, and the spaces between the columns were 
more and more fitted as dormitories for that purpose; 
différent parts being assigned to différent nationali- 
ties, and in after times to différent sects. Varions leg- 
acies were left for the maintenance of thèse students, 
while pious persons undertook the duty at différent 
times of supplying them with necessaries or luxuries. 
An attempt was made in the year 141 5 by an officions 
Kadi to turn thèse poor students out, doubtless with 
the view of rendering the condition of the Mosque 
cleaner and more sanitary; this measure had only 
temporary efïect, though great annoyance seems to 
hâve been caused by it at the time. A fresh restora- 
tion took place in the year 1495 and another in 1596; 
on this last occasion a benefaction of lentils was as- 
signed to ail students for daily consumption, and this 
caused a great inflow of scholars. Ten years after- 
wards it was freshly paved and otherwise repaired. 
I5rwaz Bey, who died in the year 1724, renewed the 
roof, which was f alling in, and since then a variety of 

[72] 



iBUILDINGS OF THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

additions and împrovements hâve been efïected. 
The improvements of Abd al-Rahman in 1777 in- 
cluded two minarets, an érection of fîfty marble 
columns containing a school, a cistern and a mauso- 
leum for himself ; a dormitory for students from Up- 
per Egypt, and a new gâte of vast dimensions made 
50 as to introduce the Taibarsi and Akbogha collèges 
within the precincts of al-Azhar. Other dormitories 
or cloisters hâve been added for students from Bagh- 
dad, Meccah, Hindustan, etc. 

The Mosque has eight gâtes, of which the largest 
is called the Barbers' Gâte, opposite the opening of 
Boxmakers' Street; this gâte, which is double, has 
above it a school and a minaret. It was erected by 
the Abd al-Rahman mentioned above. The inscrip- 
tion on the older gâte which occupied the same site is 
still preserved, and is to the efïect that the gâte was 
erected in 1469 by the Sultan Kaietbai. The re- 
maining gâtes are named after the Moors, Syrians, 
Upper Egyptians, etc. The maksurah (a kind of 
private pew surrounded with a grating, in which 
eminent personages take part in dévotions) is repre- 
sented in al-Azhar by several érections; the oldest is 
the work of Jauhar and extends from the Gâte of the 
Syrians to the Cloister of the Orientais, and is on 
seventy-six pillars of white marble; it communicates 
with the quadrangle of the Mosque by three doors. 
The second maksurah built by Abd al-Rahman is 
separated from Jauhar's by a court, and its roof is 
some two mètres higher than that of Jauhar. 

The great university of al-Azhar has recently been 

[73] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

accurately described in French by M. Armînjean 
'(" L'enseignement, la doctrine, et la Vie dans les Uni- 
versités Musumanes d'Egypte," Paris, 1907), in a 
manner that leaves little to be desired, whether in re- 
gard to the structure of the buildings, the nature of 
the studies, or the mode in which the students spend 
their time. Two of its denizens furnished him with 
autobiographies, and thèse give a vivid impression of 
the character of a Mohammedan " University Ca- 
reer." Our notion of a course of study, limited in 
time, followed by a degree after which the student 
ceases to be a student, must be removed from the 
mind, if we would familiarise ourselves with the ways 
of al-Azhar — at least the al-Azhar of ail but the most 
récent times — for hère, too, it would seem that the 
examination System and European hurry are begin- 
ning to make themselves felt. The underlying 
theory of the Oriental University is that there is noth- 
ing new under the sun. It is therefore the purpose 
of the teacher to communicate as accurately as possi- 
ble what he bas himself learned; of the student to 
master it with the same thoroughness, to leave noth- 
ing out, but never to add anything of his own. The 
sciences, as they are called, of al-Azhar were ail per- 
fected in past time — ^before the fall of the Caliphate 
of Baghdad; what the student has to do is to acquire 
mastery of the manuals in which that old learning 
was finally incorporated, or some abridgement of 
them, or else an abridgement of an abridgement. He 
may perhaps spend his whole life in accomplishîng 
this task; in any case it will take him a number of 

[74] 








1 



■X' 




BUILDINGS OF THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

years. For what the Oriental learns he usually 
learns very thoroughly indeed. 

Next in importance to the Mosque al-Azhar 
among Fatimide édifices is the Mosque of Hakim, 
outside the first but inside the second wall of Caîro. 
Built on piers, and with brisé or slightly pointed 
arches, it bore considérable resemblance to the 
Tulunid Mosque, and even the minaret is not wholly 
unlike that which has been described in dealing with 
that building; but it has long been in ruins, certain 
piers and arches only standing beside the dismantled 
minaret. Commenced by the second Fatimide 
Caliph, it was finished by the mad Hakim in 1012; 
and richly furnished and endowed by him. The 
floors were covered with 36,000 square yards of mat- 
tîng. In the year 1303 it was wrecked by the earth- 
quake which, as has already been seen, did considér- 
able havoc to the buildings in Cairo; it was then 
repaired by the Sultan Baibars, who in addition to 
fresh revenues for its maintenance appointed pro- 
ïessors of the four schools of law to lecture in it, and 
furnished endowments for scholars. In 1359 it was 
restored by the Sultan Hasan, who paved the whole 
af resh ; and an endowment of 560 feddans was added 
to its estâtes. 

Nevertheless for some reason the Mosque became 
deserted soon after this and appears to hâve been so 
in Makrizi's time. In the early part of the last cen- 
tury it was occupied by Syrian artisans of différent 
sorts, such as makers of glass lamps, silk-weavers, 
etc. Of the original seven gâtes two remained open, 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the rest being walled up. For some part of the last 
century it was used as an Arab muséum, but even this 
service to learning and religion it no longer renders. 
Tala'i son of Ruzzik, of whom a short account was 
given above, vizier of the last Fatimide Caliph, built 
a mosque somewhat to the south of the Zuwailah 
Gâte. Its purpose was to harbour the head of 
Husain, son of Ali, hero of the Muharram Miracle- 
plays; this precious relie had been kept at Ascalon, 
and it was feared that it might fall into the hands 
of the Crusaders. The Caliph, however, refused to 
let it be housed anywhere save in the Palace, and the 
Mosque built for its réception remained neglected till 
the brief reign of Aibek, under whom, in 1252, serv- 
ice began to be performed in it. It fell in the great 
earthquake of 1303, but was rebuilt. The place 
where the head was actually deposited is said to be 
where the great Mosque of Sayyiduna Husain now 
stands. A magnificent building was, immediately 
after its arrivai, built to hold it, and travellers of the 
sixth century speak with enthusiasm of this Mash- 
had (or saint's grave). Marble, silk, gold, silver 
and other precious materials were lavished upon it as 
if they were of no account. The Mosque was re- 
peatedly enlarged in the time of Abd al-Rahman 
Ketkhuda, and more recently in that of the Khédive 
Abbas Pasha, and afterwards in that of Isma'il. Ali 
Pasha Mubarak, in his account of the Mosque, com- 
plains that an excellent plan drawn by himself had 
been spoiled in the exécution; in conséquence of 
which the building was out of the correct orientation, 

[78] 



BUILDINGS OF THE FATIMIDE PERIOD 

and by the time he himself came to be head of the 
public Works department, it could not be rectified. 
Its revenue in this time — about twenty years ago — • 
amounted to about £1000 yearly; and more trouble 
was taken there than with any other mosque to keep 
everything in a state of the most perfect purity. 

It is, of course, highly improbable that the head 
which it contains really belonged to the prophet's 
grandson; though of the ultimate fate of the real 
head there seems to be some doubt. Perhaps the 
claims of the relie to be genuine were not more pre- 
posterous than those of the Fatimides to be connected 
with the mother of Husain. Moreover, it pleased 
the Fatimides to maintain the doctrine that large 
numbers of the Alid f amily in early times found their 
final resting-places in the neighbourhood of Cairo. 
The Sayyidah Zainab, indeed, presumably a daughter 
of Ali himself, who gives her name to a quarter of 
Cairo, appears to be a very late importation — later 
even than the end of the Fatimide period; but the 
story that another Zainab, daughter of a much later 
Ali who was, however, one of the twelve Imams, was 
buried in Cairo, goes back probably to Fatimide 
times. 

One more mosque datîng from this period should 
be mentioned, the modest building called al-Akmar, 
in the Nahassin Street. It dates from the time of 
the Caliph Amir, though it has repeatedly undergone 
repairs and altérations. M. Herz, the highest au- 
thority on Moslem architecture, observes that it is the 
only example of a Fatimide building in which the 

[79] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

façade corresponds wîth the disposition of the édifice. 
Prior to that time the façade played an unimportant 
part; the small dimensions of this Mosque may hâve 
permitted the architect to experiment. The door- 
way is surmounted by a shallow niche, with fluting 
for ornament round ît, and with a central rosette 
made up of letters; the décoration, afterwards so 
familiar, the stalactite, is said to appear in this 
mosque for the first time. 



[8oJ 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD AND ITS BUILDINGS 



e 



'ACH dynasty that got control over Egypt 
founded a new capital, ordinarily within 
easy distance of the last; the dynasty estab- 
lished by Saladin and destined to control 
tHe nearer East for something less than a hundred! 
years did not abandon this précèdent. From Cairo 
itself the seat of government was to shift to the south- 
east, the high ground between the city and Mount 
Mokattam, where a site was found for a citadel. The 
idea of such a structure is said to hâve been suggested 
by the Crusaders' procédure. The soldiers of the 
Cross, when they had conquered a hostile country, 
shut themselves up in fortresses such as their chiefs 
possessed in Europe, where, safe from attack, they 
could retain and enjoy their mastery. Saladin, 
chiefly remembered in history for his successful ré- 
sistance to the Crusaders, learned from his enemîes^ 
and built himself a fortress similar to theirs. 

The sélection by Saladin or his minister Kara- 
kush of a point dominated as the Cairene Citadel is 
by a mountain, bas been criticised by European writ- 
ers as a stratégie blunder; and defended on the 

[8i] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

ground that a fortress actually on the top of Mount 
Mokattam would hâve been too far removed from 
the city to be of much use for either protecting the 
inhabitants of Cairo or keeping them in order, and 
would, besides, hâve involved the fortification of the 
eminence on which the Citadel was built, to prevent 
the mountain being isolated by some enterprising 
enemy who chose to occupy that intervening height. 
And this defence seems unanswerable. 

The site of the Citadel is supposed to hâve origi- 
nally had the name " Cupola of the Air," and to hâve 
directly overlooked a parade ground established by 
Ahmad Ibn Tulun; the whole place was after his 
time turned into a cemetery (karafah), in which 
numerous mosques were erected. Hère Saladin 
ordered Karakush to build a fortress, which he was 
never destined to inhabit himself. His résidence, 
when Sultan, was the old Palace of the Viziers, and 
the first Sultan who inhabited the Citadel itself was 
al-Kamil, who came to the throne many years after 
Saladin's death. 

The Citadel in ail the plans îs divided into two 
distinct portions : the northern, rectangular in shape 
(at least on three sides), and the southeastern, sepa- 
rated from the former by a thick wall. Casanova 
suggests that the former was what was intended in 
Saladin's original plan. After the work had made 
some progress, he bethought him of building himself 
a palace under the shelter of the Citadel. 

Access to the northern enclosure was given by a 
gâte called by various names, among them the Step 

[82] 




AN OLD PALACE, CAIKO. 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

Gâte, owing to the nature of the approach — a part 
of this ancient flight of stairs was discovered and 
identified by Casanova. The material for the 
Citadel was supplied by some pyramids near Mem- 
phis, which Karakush had no hésitation in demolish- 
ing, while thousands of Frankish prisoners were em- 
ployed in forced labour. 

To Saladin is ascribed the excavation of the 
Wall of Joseph, called, according to some authorîties, 
after Saladin's own name, while others fancy it to 
be named after the Patriarch, a favourite with the 
Moslems of Egypt. The well was regarded as one 
of the wonders of engineering architecture, and was 
frequently described by Arab writers. Three hun- 
dred steps (where there is now an inclined plane) 
were supposed to lead to the bottom; the well itself 
was in two divisions, with a réservoir in the middle; 
the water was raised by oxen in the ordinary manner, 
fîrst from the well to the réservoir, then from the 
réservoir to the level of the Citadel. 

The minister who built both the Citadel and the 
new walls of Cairo is a figure of some interest. His 
name is Turkish, and means ^' Black Bird "; he was 
the slave and afterwards the freedman of either 
Saladin or Shirguh. When the former obtained 
control of Cairo, Karakush was given command of 
the guards of the palace where the Fatimide Caliph 
still retained some shadowy authority. On the death 
of al-Adid in 1171 he was still in control of the 
palace, and adopted some severe measures towards 
the surviving Fatimides. In 11 75 he was entrusted 

[85] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

by his master wîth the double task of refortifyîng 
Cairo and building the Citadel, while uniting ail 
three parts of the city, Postât, Cairo and the Citadel, 
by a wall. This scheme in its entirety was never 
accomplished. In 1188 he was summoned by Sala- 
din to Acre to settle the question whether it should be 
destroyed or not; he decided for the latter alterna- 
tive, was made governor of the place, and rebuilt the 
walls. The next year he had to stand a siège, and 
two years later, when Acre was retaken, he was made 
captive to be ransomed by Saladin. After the death' 
of the great Sultan he inherited the confidence of his 
successor, and in 11 94 was even appointed régent 
during the Sultan's absence from Egypt, and on the 
same Sultan's death became régent during the 
minority of his son. For a post of this importance 
he does not appear to hâve possessed the necessary 
qualifications, and was unable either to maintain him- 
self in power, or to prevent his charge being dis- 
placed by his great-uncle, Saladin's brother. Ré- 
sides various buildings and engineering works 
designed by him, his name was perpetuated by a 
quarter of Cairo, Harat Karakush, situated outside 
the Futuh Gâte. Owing to the véhément hatred of a 
scribe belonging to one of the rival parties, the 
memory of Karakush was blackened by a virulent 
pamphlet in which he was made responsible for a 
string of décisions ludicrous for their folly and in- 
justice, so that his name has become proverbial for 
the Unjust Judge. The confidence placed in him 
by such a man as Saladin is of itself sufiîcient to dis- 

[86] 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

pose of thèse slanders, the piquancy of which has 
caused them to survive in a marvellous fashion. 
English readers w^ho w^ish to know their character 
v^ill fînd them in a work bearing the name of A. 
Hanauer, called " Taies Told in Palestine." 

After Saladin's death the w^ork on the Citadel 
appears to hâve ceased, to be resumed by al-Kamil in 
1027. lï^ th^s year the Sultan definitely abandoned 
the old Vizier's Palace and moved into a new palace 
built in the southern enclosure, while the market for 
horses, camels and asses was transferred to Rumailah 
(sometimes called Place Mohammed Ali) , below the 
city; between this place and the Citadel were built 
the royal stables v^hich had a secret communication 
with the Palace. In the Palace itself the Sultan con- 
structed a hall of justice called Iwan, a library and 
a mosque. A celestial globe belonging to al-Kamil's 
library is still extant in the Museo Borgia of Velletri, 
though the process whereby it came into Italian 
hands is uncertain. None of this sovereign's work 
otherwise remains. 

Of the Citadel of al-Kamil nothing is left at 
the présent time beyond the location of the gâtes, 
which has never varied. Al-Malik al-Sahih aban- 
doned the Citadel of Saladin for a citadel on the 
island Raudah which he had built. The first Mame- 
luke Sultan Aibek returned to the Citadel of the 
Mountain, but does not appear to hâve built there 
afresh. On the other hand the enterprising Rukn 
al-din Baibars built in the Citadel of the Mountain 
the " House of Gold " with two towers, crowned b^ 

[87] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

a cupola supported by pillars of coloured marble, 
and further a great audience room for the hearing of 
cases. The tower near the Karafah (or Eastern) 
Gâte was by this Sultan assigned to the Caliph as his 
résidence; at a later period the Caliphs were re- 
moved from the Citadel and lodged in the Kabsh 
Palace. The Sultan Kala'un added a cupola on the 
" Red Palace," saîd to be one of the wonders of the 
world. It rested on ninety-four pillars outsîde the 
péristyles. Thèse péristyles were frescoed with rep- 
résentations of the fortresses in the possession of the 
Sultan, with ail their natural surroundings. He 
also built a house for the Viceroy, an ojSîcial who 
acted for the Sultan during his absence. 

A greater builder than any of his predecessors was 
Mohammed, son of Kala'un, known as al-Nasir; he 
even added four or five new quarters to the original 
environment of the Fatimide city, besides building 
a vast number of bridges, canals, mosques, etc. It 
has been observed that the greater number of prod- 
ucts of Saracenic art to be found in European 
Muséums bear the name of this Sultan, and so ema- 
nated from his time. The Mameluke architecture 
dates from him. Among the monuments that bear 
his name we include those that were erected by his 
émirs. He so thoroughly rebuilt the Citadel that 
with the exception of the actual lines little of the 
work of his predecessors remained after him. 

The Mosque of the Sultan Nasir stands in the cen- 
tral court of the Citadel, and in plan is approxi- 
mately square. An arcade runs round the whole of 

[88] 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

the înterior, having four rows of columns on the east, 
and two upon each of the other sides. In the centre 
of the eastern arcade and over the Kiblah the pillars 
are replaced by ten granité monoliths of very large 
size; thèse columns supported the magnificent dôme 
described by Makrizi, which fell in 1522. The 
dôme columns are surmounted by arches composed of 
alternate red and white stones, and above thèse is an 
inscription upon a broad wooden band, which runs 
round the base of the dôme. The smaller pillars of 
the arcades ail exist, with the exception of five on the 
western side, which, with the arches above them, hâve 
completely disappeared. The square pillars of 
rubble masonry which hâve taken their place are 
modem work. The floor was originally paved with 
marble, and the ceilings illuminated with gold. The 
Kiblah and the minarets were formerly covered with 
green faience. It was begun in 13 18 and rebuilt in 

1334- 
Apparently the revenues of the mosque which were 

originally very large were gradually absorbed by 

various governors, and the building fell into ruin 

about the time of the Turkish occupation. For a 

considérable period it was used as a prison, and dur- 

ing the middle of the nineteenth century was a mili- 

tary storehouse. High walls of rubble masonry 

were built between the pillars in order to divide the 

space into compartments suitable for prison or store 

purposes. Shortly after the British occupation it 

was cleared by order of Major C. M. Watson. 

The chief work of the Sultan Nasir on the Citadel 

[89] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

was the Iwan, or Palace, occupying the place at prés- 
ent covered by the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. It 
was a great hall rebuilt by Nasir after two of his pred- 
ecessors, very high, long and wide, and containing 
the royal throne. A magnificent cupola which 
crowned it fell in 1522. Later visitors speak of 
the dôme as being still supported by thirty-four col- 
umns of marble of prodigious width and height, be- 
ing at least forty-fîve feet between base and capital. 

Of a palace called the Parti-coloured Palace, a 
few remains were left when the Mosque of Moham- 
med Ali was built; in those ruins there are to be 
found black and yellow stones, and the juxtaposition 
of thèse gave its name to the building. It comprised, 
it îs said, three palaces in one. During the Turkish 
period this Parti-coloured Palace served to give 
shelter to the workmen engaged in making the car- 
pets to be sent to Meccah. Powerful descriptions 
are given by travellers of the enormous eminence on 
which this palace was built, and the magnificent view 
of Cairo which it commanded. 

The Karamaidan, though it existed from the tîme 
of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, was to some extent the work 
of Nasir, as he built a wall round it, had arrange- 
ments made for a supply of water, and planted trees; 
he regularly used the place himself as a récréation 
ground. Besides this he had constructed a vast Sys- 
tem of aqueducts for supplying the Citadel with 
water. 

After the time of al-Nasir the Sultans gradually 
abandoned the Citadel itself and took up their abode 

[90] 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

in the lower parts called the Hosh or " pens " and the 
mew9. 

The Sultans who reigned between the time of Mo- 
hammed al-Nasir and the Ottoman occupation most 
of them did something for the Citadel in the way of 
either restoration or fresh building, without, how- 
ever, seriously altering the work of that ruler. Vari- 
ous inscriptions hâve been found by Casanova and 
van Berchem which refer to thèse restorations. A 
picture preserved in the Louvre represents the last 
Mameluke Sultan but one (Kansuh al-Ghuri) sitting 
in the garden which he had laid out and receiving 
the Venetian ambassador. 

In the Turkish period the Janissaries occupied the 
military citadel, while the Pashas were installed in 
the palaces at the foot. The grand buildings of 
Nasir and his successors were allowed to fall into 
ruin, and indeed, according to a French traveller of 
the seventeenth century, the Egyptian Pashas were 
expressly forbidden by their Turkish masters to hold 
their audiences in the Great Hall, lest the magnifi- 
cence thereof should inspire them with the désire to 
become independent. Many beautiful marbles were 
removed by the Sultans from the buildings of the 
Citadel and taken to Constantinople; the Turkish 
conqueror of Egypt, Selim, dismantled some of the 
édifices immediately. The Mosque of Nasir being 
neglected, other mosques were built on the Citadel 
for the use of the Janissaries, and the governors con- 
tinued to build themselves palaces thereon. Much 
damage is said to hâve been done to the buildings 

[91] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

which remained on the Citadel at the time of the 
French occupation; but the Citadel received a new 
lease of life when Mohammed Ali built his mosque 
and his palace there; and though the ruined Mosque 
of al-Nasir ana the much-frequented Mosque of 
Mohammed Ali are the only show buildings that 
now remain on the Citadel, its military importance 
is still considérable. 

We now return to a summary of the hîstory of the 
Ayyubids, as the dynasty inaugurated by Saladin is 
called, after the father of its founder. It held the 
throne of Egypt for eighty-three years, from 1169 to 
1252, and consisted of nine sovereigns; but other 
branches of the family ruled simultaneously, and for 
some time after the power of Egyptian Ayyubids 
had fallen, in various parts of Syria and Arabia. 
Perhaps during the greater part of this time Damas- 
cus rather than Cairo would hâve been called the 
chief city of the Empire; for Saladin during the life 
of Nur al-din recognised the latter's suzerainty, while 
after his death he contrived to gain possession of his 
empire and to extend it by f resh conquests in order to 
bring a united Islam to deal with the Frankish in- 
vaders of the East. In the Mameluke period the 
governors of the Syrian cities were the " Deputies " 
of the Egyptian Sultan; but in Ayyubid times this 
relation did not yet exist. 

Although the greater part of Saladin's time was 
spent in Syria, he found time to arrange for the con- 
struction in Cairo of a number of buildings religious 
or philanthropie in character. One of thèse was a 

[92] 




DOOR OF A MOSgUE, CAIRO. 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

collège or school (madrasah) in the neighbourhood 
of the grave of al-Shafi'i, known as the Imam, or 
founder of an orthodox System of Law. Provision 
w^as made in this school for teaching that great jur- 
ist's doctrine, it being of importance that facilities 
should be provided for bringing Egypt back to ortho- 
doxy after so many years of Fatimide government. 
This collège w^as of enormous size, equal, according 
to one enthusiastic visitor, to a town; the site on 
w^hich it was built had previously been a prison. Sa- 
ladin's successor apparently made some additions, 
but in Makrizi's time it w^as in ruins, and in 1761 
Abd al-Rahman Ketkhuda, whose name has already 
met us in connection with al-Ahzar, pulled down 
what was left of it, and built on the site the présent 
Mosque of Shafî'i. Another prison w^hich had oc- 
cupied part of the old Fatimide Palace was turned 
by him into a hospital ; and — a yet greater innovation 
— a house called after a former owner Sa' id al-Su' 
ada, west of the old Avenue of the Two Palaces, was 
turned into a hospice (khanagah) for poor ascetics. 
At a later time, as we shall see, the ideas of mosque, 
school and hospice ail became confused; but in Sa- 
ladin's time they were still distinct, and the appur- 
tenances of a mosque, a minaret, a pulpit and a wash- 
îng place, were added to the hospice in much later 
times. It also served as a final resting-place for many 
of the saints. 

A visitor to Cairo in Saladin's time has in his 
diary left us his impressions of the place — the Span- 
iard Ibn Jubair. The Citadel and the surround- 

[95] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

ing wall had been begun in his time; and the in- 
tentions of the Sultan in the matter were well known. 
What interested him most in the city or its neighbour- 
hood was the great number of mausoleums contain- 
ing the remains of members of the Prophet's house, 
men and women, companions of the Prophet, jurists 
and saints. Over the sanctuary which contained the 
head of Husain he is ecstatic; he confesses that no 
words can give an adéquate description of its mag- 
nificence. But he has a good deal to say, too, of the 
arrangements of Saladin's School and especially his 
Hospital; with its separate establishments for men 
and women, with beds provided with coverings, ail 
under the management of a custodian with a stafif of 
assistants ; while hard by is an asylum for the insane, 
who, too, hâve their comfort thoroughly studied, but 
whose Windows hâve to be secured with iron grat- 
ings. No détail in his description is more striking 
than the apparently speedy recovery of Fostat from 
its ashes. The traces of the great fire were indeed 
apparent, but building was proceeding continuously. 
Saladin died in Damascus at the beginning of 
March, 1193; he had made Egypt once more nomi- 
nally dépendent on Baghdad, but had in reality sub- 
stituted a new dynasty for the efïete Fatimide family, 
whose Palace he had ruined. The reign of his son 
and successor was disturbed by family disputes, 
which for a time were settled by the division of Sa- 
ladin's empire; one son (Aziz) retaining Egypt, 
while another (Afdal) reigned in Syria. The 
former, however, had to submit to the direction of 

[96] 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

his uncle Adil, who at the death of Aziz after fîve 
years' reign, was easily able in 1199 to supplant his 
infant son. 

The reign of Aziz is notable in the history of 
Cairo for the commencement of a residential quarter 
on the west bank of the Great Canal, the site of Euro- 
pean Cairo of our time. Ibn Jubair speaks with 
great admiration of the embankment of the Nile by 
Saladin, of course before the river had shifted its 
bed towards the west. The région west of the Bab 
al-Sha'riyyah and north of the présent Ezbekiyyeh 
quarter was at that time a plantation of date-palms; 
the Sultan Aziz, in the year 1197, ordered thèse 
palms to be eut down, and an exercising ground to 
be laid out where they had stood. This proceeding 
led to the adjoining land being parcelled out and 
built on. The now fashionable région further south 
was not occupied till Mameluke days. Eight months 
of the preceding year are said to hâve been occupied 
by this prince in a futile attempt at treasure-hunting 
in the pyramids of Gizeh ; after a time it was known 
that the cost of undoing the ancient builders' work 
was greater than the value of the expected treasure. 

The Sultan Adil, like his brother Saladin, spent 
little of his time in Egypt, where he appointed as his 
deputy his son, called al-Kamîl. We hâve seen how 
this sovereign completed the Citadel which his uncle 
had begun. The transference thither of the seat of 
government led to the south and southeast of Cairo 
becoming fashionable and populous. 

The Sultan Kamil gave his name to the Kamiliy- 

[97] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

yah School, in the Nahassin Street, built by him in 
the year 1225; it was long known as the House of 
Tradition (dâr alhadîth), and was said to be the 
second édifice with that title, the first being one built 
in Damascus. From its érection perhaps we are to 
infer that orthodox books of Tradition were not yet 
studied in al-Azhar. Like so many of thèse pious 
édifices a fanciful account had to be given of the 
source of the funds employed in its érection. The 
workmen who dug the foundations were fortunate 
enough to discover a golden image, which, melted 
down, served to defray ail expenses! In Mameluke 
times it was crowded out by a number of religious 
and educational édifices erected in the immédiate 
neighbourhood, and in Makrizi's time instruction in 
Tradition had already ceased to be given in it, and it 
was turned into an ordinary mosque. 

KamiPs successor Adil II. reigned only two years; 
he was superseded by his brother Salih, called 
also Najm al-din Ayyub, who reigned nine years 
(1240- 1249). I^^s reign was notable for several 
events. 

Like previous sovereigns he took to purchasing 
slaves of various nationalities, suitable to form a 
bodyguard, and at first housed them in the Citadel, 
or in Cairo itself. Like the old Praetorians of Bagh- 
dad, their disregard for the rights of ordinary citi- 
zens made them a source of annoyance to the popu- 
lace; and just as one of the Baghdad Caliphs had 
built a city, Samarra, to keep his praetorians at a dis- 
tance from the metropolis, so the Sultan Kamil built 
a fortress on the Island of Raudah to hold his Marne- 

[98] 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

lukes. Thèse troops thence got the name Mame- 
lukes of the Nile (or the Sea, as the Arabs ordinarily 
call the river of Egypt) . The site of thèse barracks 
was chosen not only with a view to the comfort of the 
Cairenes; with vessels at their disposai the Mame- 
lukes were constantly ready to descend the Nile in 
case of a Frankish invasion. Our chroniclers regale 
us with a story how a party of deserters from the 
fortress of Raudah came in the désert across an aban- 
doned city, with streets and houses and cisterns con- 
taining water that was sweeter than honey; green 
marble was the material chiefly used in the construc- 
tion of the town. Coins were found in some of the 
shops, with legends in an ancient script; the archaeol- 
ogists to whom they were shown read thereon the 
names of Moses, on whom be peace! Like the cities 
of the Takla-makan désert which hâve been un- 
earthed in our day, it had been covered with sand; 
at times, however, the winds uncover such buried 
habitations of men, and this had occurred in the year 
1244, when the Mamelukes deserted; another wind 
then covered the city as it was before, and those that 
looked for it could not find it. 

The érection of the barracks on the Island of 
Raudah led to the building of more houses on the 
western bank of the Great Canal; and the Bab al- 
Khark (of which the name survives as Bab al- 
Khalk) formed the head of the avenue which led 
from the city to the new fortification. The heaps of 
ruins which are to the left of the traveller from 
Cairo to Old Cairo belong to a period when several 
causes led to this being a fashionable quarter. 

[99] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Relies of buildings by this Sultan exist in the shape 
of a mausoleum and a sehool, both in the old avenue 
Between the Two Palaces. Their site is where part 
of the ancient Eastern Palace stood, and indeed in- 
cluded the famous gâte of the palace called Bab al- 
Zuhumah. supposed to be named after the " odour 
of cooking." On May i6, 1242, the démolition of 
the older structure commenced, and in two years' time 
the sehool was ready. Chairs were provided in it — 
for the first time — for the four orthodox Systems of 
Law, and this principle continued to be foUowed in 
the collèges built by Egyptian Sultans, though it 
appears to hâve been in the first Mameluke period 
that a Sultan cynically confessed that the public 
maintenance of four Systems v^as to give the sover- 
eign the better chance of getting his rulings au- 
thorised. The practice of having the separate Sys- 
tems taught in annexes to the four liwans, or cloisters, 
gives such buildings a shape approximating to the 
cruciform. 

Architecturally, Herz Bey tells us, the Collège of 
the Sultan Salih is of interest for the development of 
the façade. In the Fatimide period the façade be- 
gan to be ornamented by a niche over the door, which 
served no other purpose than that of décoration. In 
the Mameluke period it develops into a séries of Win- 
dows. The Collège of Salih ofïers the earliest 
example of the introduction of a window, whereby 
the niche is given a defînite purpose. In the façade 
of the mausoleum of the same sovereign the niches 
extend to the fuU height of the wall. 

[100] 




MOSgUE OF SULTAN BIBARS. CAIRO. 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

The building originally consistée! of two schools, 
separated by a long passage to which access was given 
by the gâte under the minaret; this was of iron, orna- 
mented with a marble slab, bearing the name Salihiy- 
yah. Each of the schools consisted of an open court, 
surrounded by four cloisters. Of the southern school 
nothing now remains except the façade. Of the 
northern there remains the western cloister and part 
of the wall belonging to the eastern. The old pass- 
age has now become a street. 

This school was at times used as a court of justice. 
We hâve a record of a scène occurring in the year 
1521, in the early days of Turkish rule, when on the 
occasion of festivities in Cairo, owing to the victories 
of the Sultan Sulaiman, some Christians who had got 
drunk in honour thereof and indulged in unseemly 
language were taken there to be tried. Two of the 
judges decided that though they might not be exe- 
cuted they ought to be scourged for drunkenness; 
two other judges raised a protest against this, and 
thereupon the mob interfered, and nearly stoned the 
judges. A party of Janissaries rushed to the rescue, 
seized the Christians, and eut two of them in pièces; 
a third turned Moslem, and so with difficulty saved 
his skin. The remains of the murdered Christians 
were then burned by the fanatical mob, who tore 
down beams from the shops for the purpose. 

The mausoleum of the Sultan Salih, which adjoins 
his school, is the first of a séries of mosque-tombs 
built for themselves by the Egyptian Sultans, as 
though the air which had inspired the érection of the 

[103] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Pyramids were still suggesting some similar ideas. 
It was built seven years later than the school, to the 
northern section of which it is attached by an open- 
ing made in the wall of the western cloister. The 
influence of the West is, Herz Bey tells us, exceed- 
ingly apparent in this mausoleum. 

The Sultan Salih died in Mansurah, whither he 
had gone after the seizure of Damietta by the 
Crusaders under St. Louis, in order to organise a 
force to deal with the invader. He had gone thither 
while sufïering f rom an ulcer, believed to be his pun- 
ishment for the murder of his brother and predeces- 
sor on the throne. According to a custom of which 
most monarchies furnish illustrations, his death was 
concealed until his son Turanshah, then at Hisn 
Kaifa, was safely seated on the vacant throne; the 
widowed queen meanwhile undertook the manage- 
ment of afïairs: it was given out that the Sultan was 
still ailing, physicians continued to pay their visits 
and report on his progress, and despatches continued 
to be issued in his name. Turanshah's reign began 
brilliantly, owing rather to the valour and skill of 
the Emir Bukn al-din Baibars with the Mamelukes, 
than to his own. The Christian fleet was destroyed, 
and the retreat of the Crusaders eut ofï. The French 
King was himself taken prisoner, to be released after- 
wards for a great ransom. Damietta itself was 
restored to the Egyptian Sultan, and lest it should 
again harbour an invader, utterly destroyed. AU 
that was left of it for the time was a group of fîsher- 
men's buts. But Turanshah ofïended the Mamelukes 

[104] 



THE AYYUBID PERIOD 

of his father by preferring his own satellites above 
them, and committed the still greater error of under- 
rating the ability of his father's widow, Shajar al- 
durr, who proved a formidable adversary. This 
woman, reviving the traditions of old Egyptian and 
Ethiopian queens, replied to the threats of her stepson 
by organising a conspiracy among his father's serv- 
ants. An assault was made upon him at a banquet 
given at Mansurah. From the sword he fled into a 
wooden refuge, soon to be devoured by flame; and 
thence he flung himself into the water, where he was 
ultimately dispatched. His reign lasted forty days 
only, and with its end the Ayyubid period practically 
closed. 

The great relie of the Ayyubid period is then the 
Citadel ; from the time of Saladin till the nineteenth 
century the history of Egypt centres round that of the 
fortress which commanded Cairo. The religious 
importance of the Ayyubid dynasty is also very great. 
By restoring Moslem orthodoxy in Egypt, they fitted 
that country to serve as the headquarters of Islam 
during the centuries which elapsed between the fall 
of Baghdad and the consolidation of the power of the 
Ottomans. They made Cairo the University of 
Islam, and that position it holds to this day. Polit- 
ically they accustomed the people of Egypt to gov- 
ernment by aliens and Turks, taking on therein a 
tradition which had commenced before the Fatimide 
dynasty had begun. 

Historically their importance otherwise is to be 
found in the fact that they bore the brunt of the 

[ 105 ], 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Crusades; to recover the cities which the Frankish 
invader had taken was the problem which they had 
to face, and before the dynasty was over this problem 
had practically been solved. The founder of the 
line, Saladin, towers far above the others; the admi- 
rable biography of him by Mr. Lane Poole enables 
the gênerai reader to estimate him aright. When 
he first took part in afïairs there was a prospect of 
Egypt being annexed to the Frankish Empire, and 
indeed we find the Franks in actual occupation of 
Cairo. Aided partly by circumstances, such as the 
dissensions of the Frankish chiefs, and the want of 
suitable successors to the throne of Jérusalem, but 
chiefly through his own ability as a statesman and 
gênerai, Saladin was able to reconquer Jérusalem, 
and to Write the death-warrant of the Frankish oc- 
cupation of the nearest East. Al-Kamil was, by the 
invasion of Egypt in the years 1218 to 1221, brought 
into greater straits than Saladin had been. But the 
loss of Damietta, after its long and heroic résistance, 
was compensated in the following year by the Sul- 
tan's well-planned and successful résistance to the 
Crusaders' expédition against Cairo, which ended in 
the Franks being driven from Egypt. The Sultan 
on the occasion of his brilliant victory showed that 
the chivalrous spirit which sheds a halo round the 
memory of Saladin was in his nature too. The 
heroism of his successor Salih is sufficiently indicated 
by the circumstances of his end. Few, if any, of the 
dynasties of Islam hâve in so short a time brought 
to the front so many capable rulers. 

[106] 




THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

FTER the murder of Turanshah the Emîrs 
accepted the government of the woman 
who had organised the coup, and she was 
enthroned in the same style as maie sover- 
eigns, except that a curtain separated her from the 
ministers, who kissed the ground as their act of 
homage. To the rule of infants the Islamic peoples 
were accustomed : but it was to them a great rarity to 
hear the preachers in the Mosques name after the 
Caliph " the wife of the Sultan Salih, the Queen of 
the Moslems, the Protectress of the world and of the 
faith, the screened and veiled Mother of the deceased 
Khalil " — for in that name she chose to reign, since 
her own name, " Pearl-tree," too obviously suggested 
the slave-girl — both maie and female slaves being 
commonly called after gems. 

In spite of her eminent qualifications for the sove- 
reignty, she could not long resist the popular objec- 
tions to a woman holding such a post: and the Caliph 
himself sent from Baghdad to tell the Egyptians that 
if they had not among them a man qualified to be 
Sultan, they might apply to him, and he would send 
them someone. After three months' sovereignty; 

[107] ^ 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

she consented to a compromise whereby she abdi- 
cated, only, however, to continue to rule as the wife 
of Izz al-din Aibek, whom she had employed as chief 
minister. This person had originally been a slave 
purchased by the Sultan Salih, and enrolled in the 
force of Raudah Island, presently manumitted and 
promoted to high office. 

The praetorians were, however, not yet accustomed 
to seeing one of their number Sultan : they clamoured 
for a member of the Ayyubid family. Aibek, per- 
haps by the direction of his wife, sent for such a 
person, a youth of tender years, who agreed to be 
joint Sultan with Aibek, the names of both figuring 
on coins and being recited in the public prayer; but 
the husband of Shajar al-durr was resolved to be 
sole master, and utilised the treasures at his disposai 
for the purchase of armed men. When sufficiently 
strong, he entrapped one of the leaders of the oppo- 
sition in the Citadel, had him assassinated and his 
head flung to his friends in the Rumailah Place. 
The rest of the opposition fled into Syria, among 
them two men, afterwards prominent as Egyptian 
Sultans, Baibars and Kala'un. The Ayyubid prince 
was then imprisoned, and Aibek reigned alone. 

He now considered himself strong enough to dis- 
place his wife, Shajar al-durr, and sent to solicit the 
hand of a daughter of Badr al-din Lulu, prince of 
Mausil. This proceeding was foUowed by violent 
récriminations on the part of the ex-Queen, to escape 
which Aibek abandoned the Citadel and went to ré- 
side in the new quarter called Luk, which, in conse- 

[io8] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

quence of the innovations of al-Aziz and al-Kamil 
was springing up between the Great Canal and the 
Nile. Shajar al-durr contrived, however, by various 
blandishments to allure him back to the Citadel: 
where she had arranged that five of her Byzantine 
eunuchs should murder him in his bath. 

The tragedy was not yet fînished. Aibek had left 
a son, Ali, by another wife, whom Shajar al-durr had 
forced him to put away when she raised him with 
herself to the throne. This son, having his father's 
praetorians at his mercy, handed his stepmother over 
to the tender mercies of his mother, who ordered 
her handmaids to beat the f allen Queen to death with 
their shoes. She was then stripped, dragged by the 
feet, and flung into a ditch, where she remained un- 
buried three days. At the end of this time she was 
taken out and interred in the mausoleum which she 
had built for herself, and which still exists between 
the Mashhads of Sayyidah Nafîsah and Sayyidah 
Sakinah. M. van Berchem shows by the évidence 
of an inscription — in modem letters, but doubtless 
copied from an older one — that this mausoleum must 
hâve been built after Shajar al-durr had become 
queen, but before she married Aibek: for among her 
officiai titles she is there called Mother of Khalil, 
but not wife of Aibek. The présent building Î9 
modem, being a restoration dating from the year 
1873. It also contains the tomb of one of the 
shadowy Caliphs, of whom we shall hear more. Her 
death took place April 15, 1257: she had ascended 
the throne May 14, 1250. 

[III] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Aibek is said to hâve destroyed the barracks buîlt 
by bis predecessor on Raudah Island, and to hâve 
cleared away many dwellings in the parts of Cairo 
that stretch from Bab Zuwaileh to the Citadel, and 
westward to the Bab al-Luk. He built a collège in 
old Cairo called Mu'zziyyah, after his title Malik 
Mu'izz. 

The new Sultan, who had dealt such vengeance 
on his stepmother, was eleven years of âge: a régent 
had to be appointed, and a Mameluke of his father, 
named Kotuz, was chosen. The next year Baghdad 
was taken by the Mongol Hulagu, who now threat- 
ened to advance westward; and just as it had been the 
business of the Ayyubids to arrest the progress of the 
Crusaders, so it became that of the Mameluke dynasty 
to check this more terrible enemy. A council was 
held at which the chief jurist of the time declared 
that the occasion called for a man, and not a child, to 
be at the head of afïairs; and on November 4, 1259, 
Ali, called al-Mansur, son of Aibek, was deposed, 
and the régent installed Sultan in his place. Such 
events were destined to occur with great frequency 
during this dynasty, and the fate of the deposed 
monarch was ordinarily unenviable. In some cases, 
as that of Ali, it was lifelong imprisonment: some- 
times ît was honourable banishment, and more fre- 
quently still it was exécution. For a man to whom 
allegiance had once been sworn could generally be 
suspected of harbouring designs against his successor. 

The command of the forces was given by the new 
Sultan to Baibars al-Bundukdari, an ofRcer who was 

[112] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

credited with much of the merit of the great victory 
over Louis IX. Almost immediately after the en- 
thronement of Kotuz there arrived a missive from 
Hulagu couched in the style of Sennacherib of old; 
and by tremendous efforts, coupled with ruthless ex- 
tortions, an army was equipped and despatched to 
Syria to meet the Tartars. On September 3, 1260, a 
battle was fought at Ain Jalut, in which the victory 
remained with the Egyptians. This was presently 
confîrmed by another victory, and Kotuz not only 
repelled the Mongol invasion, but secured for Egypt 
the suzerainty over the whole of Saladin's old em- 
pire. But on his triumphant return to Egypt, he was 
attacked and slain by the Emir Baibars, who ap- 
proached the Sultan ostensibly to kiss his hand for 
the présent of a slave girl. Since the officers decided 
that Baibars, by way of compensation for this act, 
should be made sovereign in his victim's stead, it is 
probable that the assassination was the outcome of a 
widespread conspiracy. The contemporary biog- 
rapher of Baibars, who fills pages with eulogies of 
his master's virtues, can only say of this act that there 
happened what did happen. The date is given as 
November 21, 1260. 

Baibars reigned for seventeen years, and showed 
great capacity as both a warrior and administrator, 
though utterly unscrupulous in his dealings. He re- 
established in theory, as we hâve seen, the Caliphate 
of the Abbasids by recognising the claim of one Abu' 
1-Kasîm Ahmad to be the heir of the Baghdad poten- 
tates, and installing him in the Citadel as Caliph with 

[113] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the title Mustansir. Mustansir then proceeded to 
confer on Baibars the title of Sultan, and invest him 
with ail Islamic lands and any lands that might 
afterward become Islamic by conquest. The address 
in which this shadowy Caliph instructs Baibars in 
bis duties is a curious document. It appears that 
Baibars at one time intended to restore his Caliph 
to Baghdad, and to equip him with a force which 
might hâve been sufficient to enable him to recon- 
quer that capital. But he was advised in time not 
to make his créature powerful enough to become his 
master, and sent with him so small a force that he 
was easily defeated and slain by the troops of the 
Mongol governor of Baghdad. After his death a 
substitute was speedily found in another person who 
claimed descent from the Abbasid family: but this 
Caliph remained in Cairo, and, though one of his 
successors was actually Sultan for a few days, the 
greater number of thèse Egyptian Caliphs served 
no other purpose than to confer legitimacy on their 
Mameluke masters. 

The reign of Baibars was spent largely in success- 
ful wars against the Crusaders, from whom he took 
many cities, notably Safad, Caesarea and Antioch; 
the Armenians, whose territory he repeatedly in- 
vaded, burning their capital Sis; and the Seljucids 
of Asia Minor. Ail thèse were to some extent the 
allies of the Mongols. He further reduced the Is- 
ma'ilians, better known as the Assassins, whose ex- 
istence as a community lasted on in Syria after it had 
practically come to an end in Persia. He estab- 

[114] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

lished friendly relations with some of the Christian 
powers of Europe, e. g., the Emperor of Constanti- 
nople, the King of Naples, and the King of Castile. 
He made Nubia tributary to Egypt, thereby extend- 
ing Moslem arms further south than they had been 
extended by any earlier sovereign. 

He was, as has been noticed, the first sovereign 
who acknowledged the equal authority of the four 
orthodox Systems of law, and appointed judges be- 
longing to each of them in Egypt and Syria. 

Two buildings in Cairo commemorate the reign 
of the Sultan Baibars, whose title was at fîrst al- 
Kahir, and afterward al-Zahir. One of thèse is a 
disused mosque at the end of the Zahir Street, which 
leads out of the Faggalah. The materials employed 
for this building were largely taken from the Cru- 
saders' Castle at Jafïa, which was seized by him on 
March 7, 1268, by surprise, he being supposed to be 
at peace with its governor. The building materials, 
including columns and marble slabs, were piled on a 
vessel and conveyed by water to Cairo. The site 
selected for the mosque was the exercise-ground 
named after Saladin's minister Karakush. The 
cupola over the Kiblah (or mihrâb) was in imitation 
of the cupola over Shafi's grave; the doorway was 
copied from the door of his own school (madrasah) 
which had already been built. 

Ali Pasha has been able to produce few notices of 
the fate of this great building — which Baibars does 
not appear to hâve ever intended for his own mauso- 
leum — before the time of the French expédition, 

[IIS] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

when the invaders turned it into a fortress. The 
place was then desecrated and various dwellings 
erected within and around it. In Mohammed Ali's 
time a military bake-house was instituted inside the 
old mosque : this was removed in the time of Isma'il 
Pasha, but has been renewed since the British occu- 
pation. Three inscriptions that still remam hâve 
been published by M. von Berchem, in which the 
name, date, and titles of the founder are preserved. 
An interesting title is that of " Copartner with the 
Commander of the Faithful," by whom the Abbasid 
is meant, whose installation at Cairo constituted one 
of Baibar's masterstrokes. Thèse Mameluke Sultans 
seem to hâve been quite ready to acknowledge their 
original status ; and one of the adjectives employed as 
a title of the founder means that he was the f reedman 
of the Ayyubid Sultan Salih. 

The same Sultan was also the founder of a school 
^(madrasah) called the Zahiriyyah, which used to 
be in the Nahassin Street, forming part of the ancient 
avenue " Between the two Palaces." This was erected 
in 1263, when the Sultan was in Syria, on the site of 
part of the old Fatimide Palace called the Golden 
Gâte. It had four liwans, one for each school of law, 
according to the System already prevailing; it was 
f urnished with a rich library, and beside it was built 
a school for instructing poor orphans in the Koran. 
The buildings in the space between the Zuwailah 
and Faraj Gates (outside the city) were settled on 
the madrasah, which was to be supported by theîr 
rents. In Makrizi's time it had been superseded by 

[116] 




A STREET NEAR EL GAMALIYEII. 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

the numerous other institutions of the same kind 
which had been erected in the neighbourhood; till 
1870 some ruins still remained; but in 1874 ^^^ ruins 
were almost entirely removed, owing to the cutting 
of a new street to the Bait al-Kadi. One of the doors 
in finely wrought bronze was discovered by M. van 
Berchem in the French Consulate-general, whither 
it had been taken apparently at the time when the 
ruins were cleared away. It bears an inscription 
with the name of the Sultan, and a date in somewhat 
later style. 

One chronicler crédits Baibars with rebuilding 
al-Azhar " after it had been in ruins since the time 
of Hakim," but this must be a gross exaggeration. 
He also built a bridge over the Great Canal, long 
famous as " The Lions' Bridge," so called after some 
stone lions with which it was adorned, and which 
were put there because the animal figured on the 
Sultan's coat of arms. This bridge was near Sayyidah 
Zainab, and was of great height. The great builder 
Mohammed al-Nasir replaced it by a bridge that 
was lower and wider, not, Makrizi states, because 
there was anything the matter with it, but because 
this Sultan envied any architectural or engineering 
glory enjoyed by his predecessors. Baibars also 
restored the barracks on the Island of Raudah, and 
compelled his bodyguard to establish themselves 
there. 

The Bab al-Luk quarter also, we are told, receîved 
an access of population owing to the policy of the 
Sultan in welcoming Tartar colonists. Quite at the 

[119] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

beginning of his reign emissaries, sent by him into 
Syria to discover the plans of Hulagu, found a de- 
tachment of Mongols who were anxious to seek the 
protectian of the Egyptian Sultan, being in number 
about a thousand horsemen with their families. On 
November ii, 1262, thèse refugees were given a pub- 
lic réception by the Sultan, who had ordered houses 
to be built for their habitation in the région that has 
been mentioned, and the welcome granted to thèse 
Mongols with the promotion that was speedily ac- 
corded them in the Sultan's service led to many more 
of their brethren following their example. An ex- 
ercise-ground was laid out in the same région, and 
there every Tuesday and Saturday the Sultan rode to 
play bail. The origin of the name Luk appears to 
be quite obscure; the grammarians try to show that it 
means land originally submerged, but afterward re- 
covered, a description which would suit this part of 
Cairo accurately. 

Another quarter that grew up in Baibars' time was 
in the région between Sayyidah Zainab and the Nile, 
and another in the région yet further south, adjoin- 
ing the river, called Dair al-Tin, or Clay Monastery, 
where brick-kilns had previously occupied the 
ground. 

The character of Baibars is one of great psycho- 
logical interest, and in some way resembles that of 
Napoléon. His victories, like Napoleon's, were won 
by his great rapidity of movement: he went from 
Egypt to Syria and Syria to Egypt in times that con- 
stituted records for that âge. Where his personal 

[120] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

ambition was concerned, he appears to hâve recog- 
nised no moral obligations. The indictment against 
him drawn up by the German historian Weil leaves 
a most painful impression on the reader. Perfidy and 
cunning can nowhere be better illustrated. Appar- 
ently, however, the Moslem world of those days, 
owing to the terrible catastrophes which it had un- 
dergone, could not easily be shocked; and we find 
that the murder of Turanshah with which his career 
commenced, horrifîed the imprisoned Crusaders 
much more than Turanshah's subjects; and the calm- 
ness with which the people of Egypt permitted Bai- 
bars to seat himself on the throne of the meritorious 
Sultan whom he had assassinated could not easily 
be paralleled either in earlier or later times. That 
such a man as Baibars should hâve been a founder of 
religions édifices is not surprising; what astonishes 
us more is that he appears in many ways to hâve led 
a blameless life, and to hâve sincerely interested him- 
self in the reformation of public morals. The 
growth of Cairo in his time was largely due to the 
scrupulousness with which he looked after the ad- 
ministration of justice. His services to Islam iiî 
repelling the Mongols and bringing the Frankish 
kingdom established by the Crusaders to the verge 
of extinction, were very great; and, probably, the 
elaborate hierarchy of officiais which characterises 
Mameluke times was at least in part due to his genius 
for organisation. 

On July I, 1277, Baibars died and was buried in 
Damascus. He was succeeded by an incompétent 

[121] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

son, Barakah Khan, otherwise called al-Malik 
al-Sa'id, who soon became involved in disputes with 
both his provincial governors and his bodyguard in 
Egypt. M. van Berchem identifîed a mosque in the 
old Street Khurunfush, which had been built by the 
maternai uncle of the Sultan, of whom we read that 
he w^as imprisoned for ten days for the ofïence of 
representing to the Sultan's sister that unless he acted 
with greater prudence he would lose his throne. This 
mosque was in ruins when the Swiss archaeologist 
first saw it, and has since been displaced by a café. 
Sa'id himself is said to hâve built a bath, but of this 
there appears to be no trace. 

Sa'id found first a mentor and presently a danger- 
ous rival in the Emir Kala'un al-Alfi, v^ho was in 
command of the Syrian forces, and had been pro- 
moted and highly trusted by Baibars. The Queen- 
mother endeavoured to médiate between them, but, 
though treated with respect, she succeeded only par- 
tially, and after some negotiations Kala'un marched 
against Cairo, and besieged the Citadel in the Sul- 
tan's absence. Kala'un permitted the Sultan to join 
his besieged adhérents, in order thereby to get him 
more easily into his power. The Sultan found him- 
self unable to stand a siège, and was soon induced to 
abdicate, on condition of being allowed possession 
of Kerak, a city which played a rather important 
part in Mameluke times as a refuge for deposed sov- 
ereigns. There shortly afterwards he died of a fall 
from his horse. 

Kala'un did not at first venture to proclaîm himself 

[122] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

sovereign, thinking it safer to make an infant brother 
of Sa'id, nominal Sultan. His confederates, however, 
represented to him that this arrangement would lead 
them into danger, since the bodyguard of Baibars 
would probably group round the son of their former 
chief and eventually oust the usurper. To this argu- 
ment he yielded, and allowed himself to be installed 
as Sultan on November i8, 1279. 

An Under-secretary of State, who has left us a 
biography, or rather panegyric of this Sultan, gives 
an account of an interview that preceded the procla- 
mation. He had already taken possession of the 
Palace of the Sultan Sa'id on the Citadel, and had 
opened a window in the Great Hall, where he sat 
to discharge his duties as régent: He commanded 
me, says the Under-secretary, to write out the names 
of a number of earlier kings — doubtless with the 
view of selecting a suitable name. The Under-sec- 
retary refused to make out such a list in the palace of 
a king who was reigning, and could not be prevailed 
upon to do so until ail the ministers were assembled: 
80 great was his fear of being an accomplice in a 
coup which might after ail fail. When the minis- 
ters were ail présent, the Under-secretary made out 
his list; and Kala'un selected the name Mansur 
as his royal title. He has been manumitted from 
slavery thirty-three years before. 

His first years of sovereignty were occupîed witK 
troubles in Syria, where a governor of Damascus re- 
belled; and though this rébellion was crushed in the 
spring of 1280, the disafïected Syrians entered into 

[123] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

relations with the Mongols, who repeatedly invaded 
and ravaged the country, but were defeated by 
Kala'un in a great battle under the walls of Homs 
on October 30, 1281. 

During his résidence in Damascus Kala'un had 
been cured of the colic by remédies prepared at the 
hospital that had been founded there by the Sultan 
Nur al-din. Kala'un resolved to provide his Egyp- 
tian capital with a similar institution, and the name of 
thîs still remains in the Muristan (an abbreviation of 
the Persian word Bimaristan) or hospital in the Na- 
hassin Street. The name is ordinarily made to in- 
clude three buildings, the hospital, the school, and 
the mausoleum of the Sultan, which lay behind the 
others. The building which they replaced belonged 
originally to the daughter of the Fatimide Sultan 
Aziz, and when taken over by Kala'un was in the 
possession of an Ayyubid princess, to whom the 
Emerald Palace, part of the ancient Fatimide Palace, 
was given in exchange. The Fatimide princess had 
been served in it by 8000 slave girls (if Oriental 
figures are to be trusted) — a statement which indi- 
cates its size. A story similar to that connected with 
the Tulun Mosque was excogitated to conceal the 
source when the funds had been supplied for cover- 
ing the expense. The workmen when digging the 
soil fortunately discovered sealed boxes containing 
jewels and coin in sufficient quantities to defray the 
whole. The reason for this fiction was that great 
violence had been used by the contractor in employ- 
ing forced labour for the building. Ail the artisans, 

[ 124] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

we are told, in Cairo and Fostat were compelled to 
work at this and nothing else, no other orders in 
either city being allowed to be attended to while ît 
was being erected. Passers-by were compelled ta 
stop, or if mounted to descend from their horses and 
carry stones, and in order to supply materials, build- 
ings in the Island of Raudah were pulled down. Be- 
sides this it was generally supposed that the Ayyubid 
princess had been turned out of her palace against 
her will; though Makrizi observes about this that no 
resentment could justly be felt for the robbery of 
the Ayyubids, who themselves had robbed the Fati- 
mides. It would seem, however, that the mode in 
which the transformation of the building was carried 
out gave great ofïence, and means had to be devised 
to allay the agitation. The arrangements when the 
hospital was complète were said to be superior to 
those of any similar institution. It was to be open 
to any number of persons for any length of time, 
whether maie or female, bond or free. Separate 
wards were assigned to différent diseases; arrange- 
ments were made for the treatment of out-patients as 
well as in-patients; and médical courses were to be 
given for the benefit of students who " walked the 
hospital." From the rents which were settled upon 
it, amounting to a million dirhems, a whole stafï of 
officiais, including bed-makers, maie and female, 
were to be paid; and materials of various sorts re- 
quired for the compounding of drugs were liberally 
supplied. Arrangements on a similar scale were 
made in connection with the school, the orphanage, 

[127] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

and the sepulchral cupola which was to be the Sul- 
tan's own resting-place; fifty readers of the Koran 
were employed to recite the Sacred Volume in turns 
without ceasing day or night; and a library was, as 
usual, added to the foundation. Van Berchem shows 
by the évidence of inscriptions that the hospital took 
fîve months, the mausoleum four months, and the 
school three months to build: a fact which agrées 
with what we are told of the violent methods em- 
ployed by the contractor for hurrying on the work. 
The date of the completion of the whole was August, 
1285. 

The scène which is described as taking place after 
the completion of the buildings gives us an idea of 
the liberty of speech permitted at this time in Egypt, 
which we could scarcely hâve gleaned from the his- 
tory. The jurists declared prayer in such a place 
unlawful. The chief ecclesiastical authority of the 
time long refused to preach an inaugural sermon, 
and when at last he consented to do so, it contained 
some bitter reproaches levelled both at the Sultan 
and the minister who had been entrusted with the 
work of érection. Even the principal fînally ap- 
pointed to the new institution expressed his opinion 
of both quite freely before he accepted the post. 

The hospital remained in use for many centuries, 
and received benefactîons from Ezbek, after whom 
the Ezbekiyyah is named, and also from some of the 
Turkish Sultans. It appears to hâve fallen into neg- 
lect at the time of the French occupation, and never 
afterwards recovered. A school of Malekite law still 

[128] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

remains. In the earthquake of 1303 a minaret was 
damaged, but was immediately afterward restored 
by the great builder, the Sultan Nasir, who also 
placed the railing round the Sultan Kala'un's tomb. 
That Kala'un should hâve set about building his 
mosque-mausoleum so soon after his accession to the 
throne shows how quickly the idea of such a form of 
monument, which was originally quite alien to Islam, 
had taken root. 

Two obelisks now in the British Muséum, covered 
with hieroglyphics, were found by the French in the 
school of Kala'un, and sent ofï to France. The vessel 
by which they were conveyed was captured by an 
English man-of-war, which brought the obelisks to 
England. 

The conversion to Islam of the Ilchan (the title 
by which the Mongol ruler of Baghdad was known) 
and the conséquent troubles in the Mongol empire 
led to a cessation of hostilities between Egypt and 
the Ilchanate, though the Mongol rulers did not 
cease to agitate in Europe for a renewal of the cru- 
sades with little resuit. Kala'un did not at first pur- 
sue any career of active conquest, though he did 
much to consolidate his dominions, and especially to 
extend Egyptian commerce, for which purpose he 
started a System of passports enabling merchants who 
possessed them to travel with safety through Egypt 
and Syria, and as far as India. After the danger 
f rom the Mongols had ceased, he dîrected his éner- 
gies toward capturing the last places in Syria that 
were still occupied by the Franks. In 1290 he 

[129] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

planned an attack on Acre, but died (November lo) 
in the middle of bis préparations. During the 
greater part of bis reign be took one of bis sons as 
associate in tbe government, and indeed kept bim to 
take care of Egypt, wbile bimself absent in Syria; on 
tbe deatb of bis son Musa, in 1288, be associated witb 
bimself bis son Kbalil, wbo was bis successor. Tbe 
Under-secretary bas preserved a very elaborate set 
of instructions given by Kala'un to bis victory for tbe 
conduct of afifairs during bis absence. Tbe pigeon- 
post, tbe telegrapb of tbe time, was to be organised 
80 as to convey to beadquarters early tidings of tbe 
rising of tbe Nile; and great trouble was to be taken 
to see tbat ail bridges and embankments were in good 
order. Tbe viceroy must also see tbat every patcb of 
ground in wbicb cultivation was possible sbould be 
cultivated. 

Tbe viceroy's fîrst business, we read in one of tbese 
sets of instructions, wben be returns to tbe Citadel 
after bidding bis fatber farewell and Godspeed on 
one of bis warlike expéditions, is to look carefully 
after tbe disafïected Emirs wbo bappen to be im- 
prisoned in tbe Citadel, to see tbat tbey are properly 
fed and clotbed, and tbat if any of tbem are ill, tbey 
sbould receive proper médical attendance, and by 
fair promises to endeavour to win tbeir loyalty. 
Great care is to be taken tbat tbe gâtes of tbe Citadel 
are properly guarded, and indeed tbe Eastern or 
Cemetery Gâte is to be kept locked tbe wbole time 
of our absence. Tbe municipal autborities are to 
keep spécial guard on sucb parts of botb cities as are 

[130] 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

likely to be rendezvous of evil doers; such places 
are in particular the Nile-bank, the Cemeteries, and 
the Ponds, /. e,, the Elephant's Pool, the Abyssian's 
Pool and some others now dried up. At night both 
cities should be patrolled and the Dispensâmes locked 
up; and especially certain public halls in the Husa- 
iniyyah quarte r, called Halls of Chivalry (kâ'ât al- 
futuwah) which were frequented by turbulent per- 
sons. Ail persons practising astrology are to be in- 
hibited, and their instruments seized, while the public 
are to be warned to place no confidence in their arts. 
The judges appointed to settle religions questions 
are to sit in the liwans of the varions schools every 
day, Fridays not excepted, both morning and even- 
ing, and are to avoid ail mutual rivalry. The pro- 
vincial governors are to be perpetually reminded 
that no one must be allowed to get more or less than 
his fair share of Nile water. The viceroy is advised 
not to ride out much, and when he does so to keep 
to the highway, only to admit to his neighbourhood 
persons in whom he has complète confidence, and 
when in the course of his promenades pétitions are 
handed to him, to see that justice is done to the peti- 
tioners. 

Kala'un appears to hâve built barracks on the 
Citadel for the large numbers of guards whom he 
purchased, whilst still retaining some on the Island 
of Raudah: the former class came to be entitled the 
Mamelukes of the Tower (Burjis), and when 
Kala'un's dynasty was overthrown that which suc- 
ceeded it was called by that name. The native his- 

C131] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

torîans praise him for giving the Mamelukes a less 
hideous uniform than they had previously been com- 
pelled to wear. The old uniform had included a 
dull blue cap, the hair being allowed to grow in long 
tresses which were tied up in a bag of red or yellow 
silk; the tunics were fastened with a buckle of 
leather and brass, to which were attached great bags 
of black leather, containing a wooden spoon and a 
long knife. Kala'un abolished this eccentric attire, 
and adorned his officers with fur and velvet. 

He was succeeded by his son Khalil, who carried 
out his father's policy of driving the Franks out of 
Palestine and Syria, and proceeded with the siège of 
Acre, which he took (May i8, 1291) after a siège 
of forty-three days. The capture and destruction of 
this important place was followed by the capture of 
Tyre, Sidon, Haifa, Athlith and Beyrut; and thus 
the nearer East was cleared of the Crusaders. 

Acre was utterly destroyed by Khalil, and its fine 
buildings came to be a quarry for building materials. 
Khalil's brother Nasir, who reigned after him, got 
thence the marble doorway of his school; it had 
originally adorned a church in Acre. Others were 
used by Khalil himself for édifices which he caused 
to be constructed in Damascus and elsewhere. His 
own tomb, to which a school was once attached, in 
the Sayyidah Nefisah région, was built before this 
event, and while he was associated with his father, 
who is named in the epitaph with such titles as are 
assigned only to living sovereigns. Close by is the 
tomb of his stepmother, the mother of his brother 

[132] 



W^' 




MOSQUES IN THE SHARIA BAB-EL-WAZIR. CAIRO. 



THE FIRST MAMELUKE SOVEREIGNS 

Salih, who had originally been appoînted to succeed. 
The triumphal entry of Khalil into Cairo after hîs 
return from the holy war must hâve been one of the 
most glorious processions in which Moslem Sultan 
ever figured. " He entered at the Nasr Gâte, and 
went across the city, the Emirs walking before him, 
while the Viceroy carried the parasol with the bird 
over his head, and the caparisons were shaken before 
him; and when he arrived at the hospital, he turned 
his horse, and went to visit his father's grave; after 
which he rode up to the Citadel, and distributed 
décorations. The name Saladin which was one of 
his titles of honour, while he reigned under the 
name of al-Ashraf, had not been given him in vain. 
Yet it does not appear that he shared with his illus-' 
trions namesake the qualities which hâve rendered 
the later a type of chivalry. And the glory of hav- 
ing achieved what his prcdecessors for two hundred 
years had vainly striven to accomplish is said to hâve 
turned his head. 

The career of the Conqueror of the Franks was 
brought to an abrupt conclusion at the beginning of 
the fourth year of his reign (December 12, 1293). 
In the disputes between his favourite Ibn Sa'lus and 
his Viceroy Baidara, he took the part of the former, 
and the Viceroy, who appears to hâve peculated on 
a tremendous scale, organised a conspiracy against 
his master. Baidara and his party fell upon the Sul- 
tan when he was hunting without escort at Tarujah, 
near Damanhur; they killed and mutilated him, and 
proceeded to elect Baidara Sultan in his place, after 

[135] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the précèdent set in the time of Baibars. But thirty 
years of orderly government had changed men's 
ideas on this subject; the ministers and guards of the 
murdered Sultan met the assassins on the left bank of 
the Nile, as they were returning to Cairo, and routed 
them. Baidara was himself killed, and the avengers 
of al-Ashraf regaled themselves in primitive and 
Savage style on his liver. But the corpse of the vic- 
tim remained three days in the désert, and was 
gnawed by wolves before what was left of it could be 
taken up and deposited in the mausoleum that had 
been built none too soon. 



[136] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

^^^^^^HE younger son of Kala'un, who was now 
M C^\ placed on the throne, had the singular for- 
^L J tune of reigning three times, being twice 
^^^ dethroned. He was first appointed Sultan 
on December 14, 1293, when he was nine years old, 
and the afïairs of the kingdom were undertaken by a 
Cabinet, consisting of a vizier, a viceroy, a war min- 
ister, a prefect of the palace, and a secretary of state. 
Three of thèse fîve were destined to enjoy ephemeral 
sovereignty; the fîrst, Sanjar al-Shuja'i, though never 
a sovereign, is known to history as the gênerai em- 
ployed by the Sultan Khalil in his war against the 
remnant of the Franks. According to the historian, he 
aspired to be Sultan, and went so far as to ofifer a 
price for the head of any follower of the Viceroy 
Ketbogha: the latter got together a force, defeated 
the Vizier's forces in the Horse-market between 
Cairo and the Citadel, and besieged his rival, who 
had retreated into the fortress. The Queen-mother 
then addressed the besiegers from the wall of the 
Citadel, and asked what they wanted: the reply was 
the déposition of the Vizier. To this the Queen- 
mother assented, and the Vizier's fîckle followers 

[137] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

turned agaînst him and beheaded hîm. A man car- 
rîed his head out to the besiegers in a silk wrapper. 
" What hâve you there? " asked the guardian of the 
gâte, an adhèrent of the fallen Vizier. " Hot bread 
to show them that they are not likely to starve us 
out,'' was the reply. The head was then carried 
round the city; and since it was this Vizier who had 
organised the forced labour in connection with the 
building of Kala'un's hospîtal, the Cairenes paid 
the carriers money to let them hâve the head in theîr 
houses to beat it with sandals. The conqueror Ket- 
bogha assumed the reins, and after a short time, 
was strong enough to dépose the infant Sultan, whose 
first reign was eleven stormy months. The new 
Sultan was a Mongol, who had been taken prisoner 
by Kala'un in one of his battles. 

This Sultan's reign was rather less than two years, 
and was clouded by famine and pestilence. The oc- 
casion of his absence was seized by his viceroy, Lajin, 
who, after the murder of Khalil, had hidden in the 
Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun, and afterwards been 
promoted by Ketbogha, to oust his benefactor and 
master. During Ketbogha's time the population of 
Cairo was increased by a fresh colony of Mongols, 
who settled in the Husainiyyah quarter, to the north 
of the Futuh Gâte; while in the south, overlooking 
the Elephant's Pool, some building was occasioned 
by the Sultan laying out an exercise-ground, as a sub- 
stitute for that which Baibars had selected at the 
Bab al-Luk. This exercise-ground soon had to give 
way to a palace, built by the Sultan Nasir. 

[138] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

Lajin himself fell a victîm to a conspiracy of the 
Praetorians when he had reigned two years and two 
months. The murderer was almost immedîately ex- 
ecuted by a commander who returned to Cairo the 
day after the event; and the Emirs decided on the re- 
call of al-Nasir, then in exile at Kerak. February 
II, 1298, was the day on which he commenced his 
second term of sovereignty. 

M. van Berchem has discovered some curious ves- 
tiges of the quick succession of rulers in the school 
of the Sultan Nasir, which is to the north of the 
mausoleum of the Sultan Kala'un. An inscription 
contains the contradictory statement that ît was built 
by the Sultan Mohammed al-Nasir in the year of 
the Hijrah 695, when, in fact, Ketbogha and not 
al-Nasir was reigning. Apparently then — and this is 
asserted by the archaeologists — the school was begun 
by Ketbogha, and had risen as high as the gilt band 
on the façade, when Ketbogha was dethroned. Work 
on the school was then resumed when Mohammed 
was restored and then apparently the old date was al- 
lowed to stand, while the name of the sovereign was 
altered — perhaps in virtue of a theory similar to that 
by which the reign of Charles II. is supposed to hâve 
commenced at the death of Charles I. M. van 
Berchem accounts for the date of completion, 703 
A. H., which seems to involve a longer time than 
might reasonably hâve been occupied by a moderate 
sized édifice (supposing indeed that building was 
continuous) — by the supposition that it sufïered 
f rom the great earthquake of the year 702, and had 

[139] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

to be rebuilt a year or two af ter its actual completion. 
Its doorway was regarded by Makrizi as one of the 
wonders of the world. It was of white marble, of 
great beauty and extraordinary workmanship, hav- 
ing corne originally f rom one of the churches at Acre. 
Inside the gâte there is a cupola, smaller than that 
built by the Sultan's father, where his mother and 
one of his sons lie buried, he himself lying near his 
father. 

This earthquake commenced în August, 1303 A.D.^ 
and shocks were felt for twenty successive days. 
Great damage was done in Alexandria, where the re- 
turning wave, which is a phenomenon often accom- 
panying great earthquakes, inundated a considérable 
portion of the city. On Thursday, the 23d of the 
month Dhu' 1-Hijjah, says Makrizi, at the moment 
of morning prayer, the whole land shook; the walls 
were heard to crack, and terrible sounds proceeded 
from the roofs. Pedestrians were compelled to bend 
down, men on horseback fell off their mounts. The 
people imagined that the sky was coming down. AU 
the inhabitants, men and women, rushed out into the 
streets. The terror and haste was such that the 
women did not wait to veil their faces. Houses tum- 
bled down, walls split, the minarets of the mosques 
and the schools were overthrown, many children 
were prematurely born. Violent winds arose, the 
Nile overflowed, and tossed such boats as hap- 
pened to be on the bank to the distance of a bowshot. 
Presently the water withdrew, and left thèse vessels 
with broken anchors high and dry. The inhabitants, 

[140] 




GATEWAY OF THE MOSQUE OF IBRAHIM AGHA. CAIRO. 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

driven by fright out of their houses, took no thought 
of what they had left inside. They were entered by 
robbers, who seized whatever they chose. The own- 
ers passed the night in tents, which were set up from 
Boulak to Raudah. Only Thursday night was spent 
in the mosques and chapels by crowds imploring the 
mercy of God. 

Of édifices that were damaged by the earthquake 
— ^which left fallen bricks or other traces of itself in 
the doorway of every house — Makrizi enumerates 
the mosque of Amr, the mosque al-Azhar, the mosque 
of Salih situated outside the Bab Zuwailah, the 
school of Kala'un, which lost its minaret, and the 
mosque of al-Fakihani, which underwent the same 
disaster. Forty curtains and twenty-seven towers be- 
longing to the wall of Cairo fell. Cairo and Fostat 
were left in such a condition that anyone who saw 
them might hâve supposed that they had been sacked 
by an enemy. 

To the second reign of the Sultan Nasir belongs 
the Mosque of Jauli, removed by a couple of hun- 
dred mètres from the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. It con- 
tains two domed tombs of the Emirs Sanjar and 
Salar, both celebrities of this period. The inscrip- 
tion published by van Berchem gives the date of con- 
struction as 703. The Mosque, of which the shape 
is unusually irregular, occupies 780 square mètres. 
In one of the many apartments which it contains for 
the use of Sufis (or ascetics) there is, says Ali Pasha 
Mubarak, a square blue stone, of which the greater 
portion is buried in the soil, and in which there is a 

[143] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

hole. Piles, it was supposed, could be cured by the 
sufïerer placing in this hole some olive oil; he then 
sat in the hole a quarter-of-an-hour, after which he 
would anoint himself with the oil, and his cure would 
be efïected. When the Pasha wrote, he could speak 
of three tombs, of which, however, one was unknown. 
The Emir Salar was Viceroy when he built this 
monument, and held this post for eleven years. By 
domineering overmuch over his master, al-Nasir, he 
caused the Sultan, in the year 1308, to retire from the 
sovereignty for a second time. When al-Nasir re- 
turned for the third time, Salar resigned his office, 
and was at fîrst treated honourably by the Sultan, but 
was presently seized and starved to death in prison, 
where he is last heard of trying to eat his shoes. As 
Viceroy, he enjoyed a revenue of 100,000 dirhems a 
day; and a pretended report of the treasures found in 
his house at the time of his arrest gives the items dis- 
covered day by day, thus : 

Sunday: Nineteen Egyptian quarts of emeralds; 

Two Egyptian quarts of rubies; 

Two-and-a-half quarts jacinths; 

Six boxes of gems for rings, diamonds 
and others; and so on, the figures getting more and 
more fabulons. 

The task of arresting hîm had been commîtted to 
the other occupant of this mausoleum, Sanjar al- 
Jauli, who also obtained leave to bury his friend 
Salar after his death from starvation. This person, 
after fîlling other offices, was governor of Gaza and 
Southern Palestine for a number of years; he was 

[H4] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

then recalled and imprisoned for eight years by al- 
Nasir, after which time he was released and given 
office at the Cairene Court. During the ephemeral 
reigns that followed on the death of Nasir, he played 
an important part. In his governorship of South 
Palestine he distinguished himself by numerous 
Works of public utility; he rebuilt Gaza, and 
founded mosques, hospitals and schools, both there 
and in other important cities of his province. Unlike 
his f riend, he died in his bed in Cairo, and was hon- 
oured with a solemn funeral. 

When, in 1308, the Sultan Nasir abdicated and 
took refuge in Kerak, his place was taken by the 
Emir Baibars (called the Jashangir, which properly 
means the taster) who had been one of the Cabinet 
which had governed for him at his accession. His 
reign lasted not quite a year, in which he rendered 
himself odious by punishing with barbarous cruelty 
numbers of the common people who were guilty of 
singing a comic song in which he was lampooned. 

A monument of this ephemeral sovereign exists in 
the monastery called Rukniyyah (after his officiai 
title Rukn al-din) or Baibarsiyyah, in the Jamaliyyah 
Street. The dervish who should hâve no home but 
the Mosque was a natural object for the bounty of 
pious founders, and about 400 A.H. the custom arose 
of building places where they could carry on their 
devotional exercises undisturbed. The earliest place 
of the sort built in Cairo was, as has been seen, the 
work of the great Saladin, and the ascetics seem to 
hâve done fairly well in it at first: each man was 

[145] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

to hâve daily three pounds of bread, three pounds of 
méat with broth, sweets once a month, a provision 
of soap, and forty dirhems yearly for clothes. In 
time the revenue of Saladin's hospice proved insuf- 
fîcient for this outlay, and great troubles arose. The 
hospice of Baibars II. w^as the second of its kind in 
Cairo. Its site is where the ancient palace of the 
Fatimide viziers stood. Originally it had three 
w^indows f acing the street, of which one was a f amous 
window brought f rom Baghdad by that Basasari who 
defeated the Abbasid Caliph Ka'im, and for the mo- 
ment rendered the metropolis of the East subject to 
the heretical Caliphate of the West. This part of 
the place was left unchanged when it w^as transferred 
to its religious purpose. The w^indows were after- 
wards removed, and shops substituted in order to 
furnish rentals for the maintenance of the institution 
when, owing to the failure of the Nile, the ordinary 
revenues were eut ofif. It was begun by the Emir be- 
fore his brief reign, during which it was completed, 
but he was compelled to flee before the inaugural 
ceremony could take place; and when Nasir returned 
he closed the hospice, and it remained empty for 
nineteen years, when the same Sultan reopened it. 
The inscription which remains contains traces of this 
chequered history, which van Berchem with his 
usual skill has succeeded in enucleating. A story 
perhaps less apocryphal than others dealing with 
buried treasure is to the efïect that a friendly Emir 
informed Baibars when he commenced building that 
there was a store of rich marble under part of the 

[146] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

ancîent Fatimide palace, which, when discovered, 
had been left undisturbed and ready for use: that 
[Baibars made use of this information, had the marble 
unearthed, built bis hospice, mausoleum, and mili- 
tary asylum with part of it, and stored the remainder 
in the hospice, where Makrizi déclares that it re- 
mained till bis own time. The hospice was to hold 
four hundred ascetics, the asylum one hundred de- 
cayed soldiers; the mausoleum was for himself, and 
thither bis body was ultimately brought, probably 
after the reopening of the establishment. According 
to Makrizi the workmanship was so sound that no 
repairs were required for a century and a half. 

In 1892 the Committee found that the state of de- 
composition to which the walls had come must speed- 
ily lead to the total ruin of this monument and pré- 
ventive measures were taken. The marble with 
which the walls were still clothed proved that this 
rich ornamentation at one time rose to the height of 
more than 3.60 mètres. Slabs of coloured marble 
alternated with slabs of mosaic. Many had fallen 
and others owing to the moisture of the walls were 
about to follow them. 

If Baibars IL had permitted the exiled Sultan to 
remain quietly at Kerak, he might bave attained bis 
throne: but by sending threatening and extortionate 
letters he compelled Nasir to invoke the feeling of 
loyalty to bis father Kala'un that slumbered in the 
breasts of bis former subjects, especially in Syria. 
They invited him to résume the sovereignty, and 
[Baibars had to retreat precipitately, being foUowed 

[147] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

out of his capital by the hisses of the mob. He was 
granted a provincial governorship, but before he 
could reach it, was arrested by order of Nasir, and 
strangled wîth a bowstring. 

Nasir's third reign lasted from 1309 to 1340, and 
was prosperous in most ways. The Sultan developed 
a great taste for building and similar opérations, and 
some of the work donc by him on the Citadel has al- 
ready been noticed. A work of another sort was the 
Nasiri Canal which he had dug: in a mode not un- 
like that which was used in much later times for the 
excavation of the Suez Canal. This Canal started 
from the Nile in the Kasr ai-Ain région, and after a 
long course mainly northward, discharged into the 
Great Canal near the Mosque of Baibars. Its pur- 
pose was, it is said, to convey goods to the buildings 
erected near the new exercise-ground laid out by the 
Sultan at Siriacos; but it was also used for pleasure 
parties and processions, and many mansions were 
built along its banks. 

Probably more buildings remain from the time of 
this Sultan than from any of his predecessors. Such 
are the mosques of the Emir Husain in a street lead- 
ing out of the Mohammed Ali Boulevard in the di- 
rection of the Bab al-Khalk: of the Emir al-Malik 
Jaukandar in the Husainiyyah quarter: of the Emir 
Aimas in the Place Hilmiyyah: of the Emir Kausun 
(most of it destroyed when the Mohammed Ali 
Boulevard was constructed) ; of the Emir Beshtak in 
the Jamamiz Street, entirely renewed in the year 
1860 by the brother of the Khédive Isma'il: of the 

[148] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

Emîr al-Maridani near the Mihmandar Mosque, în 
the Tabbanah quarter, leading from the Zuwailah 
Gâte to the Citadel, which also dates from a late 
period of Nasir's reign: and of the Lady Maskah 
near the Mosque of the Sheik Salih to the south of 
the Mabduli Street. The lady who founded this 
last mosque was a slave of the Sultan, who rose to 
the office of manageress of such matters as were en- 
trusted to the women of the palace, such as the éti- 
quette of weddings, the éducation of the royal chil- 
dren and the organisation of various cérémonies. 
The foundress records in the dedicatory inscription 
that she had visited both Meccah and Medinah. AU 
the Emirs mentioned in this list were persons of 
mark in Nasir's reign. The Emir Husain was also 
the builder of a bridge and a wicket called after his 
name, to enable people to come from Cairo to his 
mosque. The Emir Sanjar, who was governor at 
the time, objected to a hole being made by a pri- 
vate individual in the city wall. When the Emir 
Husain, nevertheless, obtained leave from the Sultan 
to make it, and boasted of his victory to Sanjar, the 
latter persuaded the despot that Husain meant trea- 
son, and Husain was sent away to Damascus. 

The mosque of Kausun was built by an architect 
from Tabriz, who modelled the minarets on those of 
a Tabriz édifice: the founder appears to hâve come 
thence to Cairo as a trader in the escort of one of Na- 
sir's brides and is said to hâve sold himself — a some- 
what unusual proceeding — into the service of the Sul- 
tan, and once enrolled, to hâve advanced rapidly. 

[151] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Like Joseph of old he presently sent for his relatives, 
and gave his sister to the Sultan, who married him to 
his daughter. On the Sultan's death he was left in 
charge of the royal children, and met with his end in 
an attempt to secure the power to himself by main- 
taining infants on the throne. One of the minarets 
fell, carrying with it a large part of the mosque, in 
the year 1800, apparently being exploded by the 
French; the other minaret was destroyed in 1873 
when the Boulevard Mohammed Ali was eut. 

The Emir Beshtak was a famous builder, and 
among other achievements erected himself a palace 
in the main avenue of Cairo, facing that of his rival 
Bisri, both so splendid that the avenue could once 
more be called Between the two Palaces, as it had 
been called in the days of Fatimides. The remains 
of the palace are on the right of the Nahassin Street, 
the actual entry to them being in the lane which leads 
to the School of Sabik al-din. M. van Berchem has 
discovered the fragment of an inscription belonging 
to it, which, however, contains neither date nor name. 
His mosque was built in a place occupied by Franks 
and Copts, " who committed such atrocities as might 
be expected of them." When the call to prayer re- 
sounded from the minaret, they were overawed and 
left the neighbourhood. 

A bath erected by the same person îs to be found at 
the opening of the lane which bears his name, oppo- 
site the Southwest corner of the ruined Mosque Mir- 
Zadeh. The interior is said to belong to a later date : 
but the exterior is thought by Herz Bey to be still as 

[152] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

ît was built by the Emir, and it îs of importance for 
the history of the development of the façade. 

This Emir died in 1341, the year after Nasir. He 
was one of those ministers who under the Mameluke 
Sultans acquired fabulous wealth. A conversation is 
recorded between him and another mosque-builder, 
the Emir Kausun, in which the latter declared 
himself disqualified for the Sultanate as having 
once sold leather; whereas Beshtak was disquali- 
fied as having sold béer. It is characteristic of Egypt 
that it was considered a dégradation for a man in 
high office to know the language of the country. 
Beshtak, therefore, though knowing Arabie well, 
would never talk to his servants except through a 
dragoman. His object in life was to obtain the gov- 
ernorship of Damascus, and with this he eventually 
was invested, but was executed before he could enter 
upon office. 

Maridani is better known by the name Altin- 
bogha. He was one of the Emirs who took a great 
part in the troublesome times that followed on the 
death of Nasir, and appears to hâve played a double 
game with Kausun ; and eventually he was sent into 
exile as a Provincial Governor in Syria, where hç 
died. In constructing his mosque he took material 
from the Mosque of Rashidah, erected by Hakim. 
Originally it was isolated on ail sides; at a period 
unknown, though not distant, a house was built con- 
tiguous to the northwest façade. The surface occu- 
pied by it is said to be 2664 square mètres: originally 
it consisted of an uncovered court surrounded by 

[153] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

four liwans. At présent only the eastern liwan re- 
mains, containîng relîcs of finely-executed mosaics. 

The enumeration given by the archaeologîsts of the 
public Works carried on in Cairo under the Sultan 
Nasir is very lengthy. It includes canals, embank- 
ments, pools, palaces, exercise-grounds, and indeed 
every branch of the architect's and engineer's art. 
The security produced by a long and prosperous 
reign led to a rise in the value of land, which accord- 
ingly was everywhere about the city eut up into 
building plots. Owing to the number of buildings 
erected, says Ali Pasha, Cairo became continuous 
with Fostat, and the two came to be one city: from 
the Tabar Mosque to the Vizier's Garden south of 
the Abyssinians' Pool, and from the Nile bank at 
Gizeh to Mount Mokattam ail was covered with 
houses. 

In the year 1320, which fell near the middle of 
this Sultan's reign, there was a great conflagration in 
Cairo, which was attributed by the populace to the 
Christians. On May 19 of that year a number of 
churches in varions Egyptian cities had been de- 
stroyed by the Moslems: their fanaticism was con- 
stantly aroused by the invasion of the public offices 
by Christian secretaries, who for clérical work were 
always found more compétent than Moslems. The 
încendiarism which followed, and which had for its 
objects buildings in the Citadel as well as the city, 
was attributed to the resentment of the Christians, 
and it is asserted that the Coptic patriarch did not 
deny that his co-religionists were concerned in it. 

[154] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

The Sultan, who himself favoured the Christians, 
did his utmost to prevent violent reprisais; but popu- 
lar feeling was too much for him, and Moslem in- 
dignation found vent in a séries of highly oppressive 
enactments. Anti-Christian feeling ran so high that 
for a time Christians who wished to appear in the 
streets disguised themselves as Jews; to show them- 
selves in Christian attire was dangerous, while to be 
caught in Moslem attire meant certain death. From 
the fact that thèse intolérant edicts had constantly to 
be re-enacted, we may reasonably infer that after a 
very short time they fell into abeyance. Whether 
there was any truth in the ascription of this incen- 
diarism to the Christians cannot be easily determined. 
In the reign of Baibars I. a similar event had oc- 
curred, and the Sultan determined to make a pyre of 
ail the Jews and Christians that could be found. 
Some pious persons bargained with him to redeem 
thèse victims at so much per head, and the Sultan 
made a considérable sum by the transaction. 

Nasir was succeeded by no fewer than eight of his 
sons. The son Abu Bakr, to whom he at his death 
on June 7, 1341, left the throne, was able to maintain 
himself on it for a few months only, being compelled 
to abdicate on August 4, 1341, in favour of his infant 
brother Kuchuk; the révolution was brought about 
by Kausun. This person's authority was soon over- 
thrown by a party formed by the Syrian prefects, and 
on the following January 11, Ahmad, an elder son, 
was installed in his place, though he did not actually 
arrive in Cairo till November 6, being unwilling to 

[155] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

leave Kerak, where he had been living in retirement. 
After a brief sojourn in Cairo he speedily returned to 
Kerak, thereby forfeiting bis throne, wbich was con- 
ferred by the Emirs on bis brotber Isma'il. Tbis 
Sultan was mainly occupied during bis sbort reign 
witb besieging and taking Kerak, wbitber Abmad 
bad taken refuge, and bimself died August 3, 1345, 
wben anotber son of Nasir, named Sba'ban, was 
placed on tbe throne. Sba'ban proved no more com- 
pétent than bis predecessors, being given up to open 
debauchery and profligacy, an example foUowed by 
bis Emirs: fresh discontent led to bis being deposed 
by tbe Syrian governors, wben bis brotber Hajji was 
proclaimed Sultan in bis place. Hajji was deposed 
and killed December 10, 1347, and anotber son, 
Hasan, wbo took bis father's title, proclaimed. 
Hasan's rule was slightly less ephemeral than that of 
bis predecessors, for he remained in power till 
August 21, 1351, and thougb then deposed, he re- 
ceived a fresh lease of sovereignty three years after- 
wards, wbich he retained for six years and a half, 
wben he was finally displaced. 

During tbis reign Egypt was visited by the black 
death, wbich is said to bave carried ofï 900,000 of 
the inhabitants of Cairo, and to bave raged as far as 
Assouan. The resuit was to reduce Cairo to the pro- 
portions wbich it had attained before the time of tbe 
Sultan Nasir. The plague was followed by a 
famine, due to the wholesale destruction of tbe agri- 
cultural population, and of their beasts, for thèse 
were attacked by a simultaneous épidémie. 

[156] 




/ Â ^ 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

Some of the Cairene monuments date before 
Hasan's resumption of the sovereignty. One of thèse 
is the mausoleum of the Sultan Kuchuk, who was 
dethroned in 1342, and strangled three years later. 
It forms part of the Mosque of Ibrahim Agha, of 
which the présent volume contains several illustra- 
tions. Ibrahim Agha was not the founder of the 
mosque, but its restorer: its founder was the Emir 
Ak Sonkor, of whom three inscriptions remain. The 
mosque is noteworthy for the tiles which cover the 
walls in parts to a height of four mètres. The Emir 
who built it was a celebrity of the reign of Nasir, 
during which he was governor of a number of Syrian 
cities: fînally he was made viceroy in Egypt itself. 
The last scène in which he figures is one in which he 
plays rather a courageous part; when the sixth of 
Nasir's successors came to the throne and desired to 
hâve him arrested, he drew his sword and tried to 
attack the Sultan's person; he was, however, in time 
overcome and strangled the foUowing day. This was 
six weeks after the mosque had been inaugurated. 
Much of the property of the mosque was in Aleppo, 
and when after the death of the Sultan Barkuk the 
Syrian governors revolted, the revenues accruing to 
the mosque were stopped, whence many of the insti- 
tutions connected with it fell into abeyance. Appar- 
ently, however, they were afterwards restored, or 
else the properties in Cairo settled upon it rose 
greatly in value, since Ali Pasha gives them at a very 
high figure. The restoration was executed in 1650, 
during the Turkish period, and Ibrahim Agha's 

[159] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

tomb was built two years afterward, when Abd aî- 
Rahman was governor of Egypt. An inscription to 
the left of the Kiblah states that on the night of Fri- 
day, July 14, 1463, the Prophet was seen standing 
and praying on the spot. 

The two tombs in the mosque are those of the 
founder and the restorer. Our artist lingered over 
it because it is situated in an old street, and the sur- 
rounding buildings hâve not lost the flavour of 
antiquity. Due north of it there is a sebil or foun- 
tain, also instituted by Ibrahim Agha. A pond roofed 
over, the roof being on marble pillars, was placed 
inside this mosque in the year 1422, the materials 
being taken from the Mosque of the Ditch, 
which was pulled down for the purpose, having been 
long disused. The pcrson who was responsible for 
this proceeding had the name Toghan. 

One or two more monuments belong to the perîod 
of the Sultan Hasan, besides the magnificent build- 
ing that bears his name, and claims to be one of the 
great mosques of the world. Such is the mosque of 
the Emir Shaikho, with a monastery facing it, to the 
west of the Rumailah Place. This part of the city 
is outside the old square of Jauhar, and in the région 
called of old Kata'i: varions houses were bought by 
the founder of thèse two édifices, and pulled down to 
make room for it. He was one of the temporary 
rulers of Egypt who rose from honour to honour, 
and at one time is said to hâve received from his 
varions estâtes the sum of 200,000 dirhems daily. He 
perished, finally, at the hand of an assassin, a man 

[160] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

who, beîng denied the promotion for whîch he had 
petitioned, revenged himself by a murderous assault 
on the Emir. The mosque was built in the year 1349, 
and a company of Sufis at the fîrst maintained there; 
six years afterwards the hospice was built on the 
opposite side of the road, and spécial résidences pro- 
vided there for the ascetics who were transferred 
thither from the mosque. Nevertheless, the object 
and the external appearance of the two buildings 
being very similar, it has of ten been a matter of doubt 
which was meant to be mosque and which hospice. 
The inscription on the front entrance of the hospice 
is couched, M. van Berchem observes, in the lan- 
guage of the Sufis or ascetics, and care is taken therein 
to avoid the pompons titles which the Emir who 
founded the building could hâve claimed. Indeed, 
the hospice seems to hâve been built by him in an 
access of religions fervour, such as would be accom- 
panied by self-abasement. He was buried in his 
hospice with great pomp, the ceremony being con- 
ducted by the Sultan Hasan himself; and nature, to 
exhibit her sympathy with the people of Cairo in 
their bereavement, produced a slight earthquake, 
and equally strange, a shower of rain, though it was 
summer. At the time of the final downfall of the 
Mameluke dynasty, when Tuman Bai was attacked by 
the Sultan Selim, the former took up his headquar- 
ters in the Hospice of Shaikho; fire was accordingly 
set to the building by the Ottomans, and a considér- 
able part of it burned down. The preacher of the 
mosque was brought before the Sultan Salim, who at 

[161] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

first determined on his exécution, but afterwards 
thought fît to pardon him. The mischief that had 
been done was then speedily repaired. A restoration 
of both mosque and hospice is recorded for the year 
1816. 

The great monument of this time, however, is the 
mosque of the Sultan Hasan, on the right hand of the 
Boulevard Mohammed Ali, at the end which looks 
towards the Citadel. It covers an area of 8525 square 
mètres; a magnificent gâte situated at the north angle 
gives access to a vestibule covered by a dôme, which 
rests on a crown of stalactites. Turning in a south- 
east direction, after a détour, wt reach the Court of 
the Mosque. The middle of this is occupied by a 
fountain. In front is the great Liwan, with the 
prayer-niche, the pulpit and the dikkah; to the left, 
the right and behind, are three other oratories. The 
site had been formerly occupied by the house of the 
Emir Yelbogha. The mosque was begun in the year 
1356, and took three years to build, 20,000 dirhems 
being each day devoted to the cost of the opérations. 
The Sultan would hâve desisted from the undertak- 
ing when he learned to what the expense would 
amount, had it not been that he regarded it as un- 
worthy of a Sultan of Egypt to desist from an enter- 
prise that had been once begun. The chief court 
measures sixty-fîve yards by sixty-five ; the great domc 
was thought to hâve no rival in any Islamic city, and 
the marble of the pulpit is of unequalled beauty. 
Originally the architect had planned four minarets: 
one, however, that had been erected over the portai 

[162] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

fell, în the course of building, burying under it some 
three hundred persons: the Sultan therefore con- 
tented himself with the two that are still standing. 

The Mosque of the Sultan Hasan plays a more im- 
portant part than any other in the political history of 
Cairo, for owing to its proximity to the Citadel and 
to its enormous size, it could be regularly employed 
as a counter-citadel, and on the occasion of any civil 
war, it was usually so used by the force which 
aimed at dislodging the inmates of the Citadel itself. 
The Sultan Barkuk destroyed the perron in front of 
the mosque, as well as the staircases which led up td 
the minarets, and blocked up the front door. A side 
door was opened in one of the law-schools, which, as 
usual, surround the main court, to enable worship- 
pers to enter and use the mosque; but the means of 
ascending the roof and the minarets were taken 
away. 

The bronze door, which was regarded as of un- 
rivalled beauty, was afterwards purchased for a 
comparatively small sum by the founder of the 
Muayyad Mosque, which alone rivais it in impor- 
tance. In 142 1, in the reign of Barsbai, the innova- 
tions of Barkuk were cancelled; the perron, minaret 
staircases and the original entrance were restored 
and a bronze door was introduced in place of that 
which had been removed. This portai seems to hâve 
been again closed in the year 1639, and reopened 150 
years later. Of the two minarets erected by the 
founder, the eastern fell in the year 1659, and was 
rebuilt on a smaller scale than the original. The 

[163] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

cupola of which Makrizi speaks so admiringly col- 
lapsed in the following year, and was replaced by 
the existing dôme under the government of Ibrahim 
Pasha. The account of the condition of the building 
given in the report of the Committee for 1894 is ex- 
ceedingly gloomy. Since then, large sums hâve been 
spent in efïecting a worthy restoration. 

Ali Pasha gives at length the document in which 
various properties were settled on the mosque by the 
Sultan and hère as in the case of al-Azhar the most 
trivial détails were provided, and money lavished on 
each. A couple of physicians with a surgeon were 
appointed to treat such of the officiais or students as 
were invalided; provision was made for a number of 
orphans to be educated and outfitted when they 
reached maturity: and in the list of religious and 
other officiais we fînd spécialisation carried to an 
extent previously unknown. Thèse vast revenues 
hâve for the most part disappeared. In Ali Pasha's 
time the whole institution possessed a hundred and 
fifty pounds a year, which was devoted to the pay- 
ment of salaries and partly to upkeep and repairs. 

Twenty-two years after the completion of the 
mosque, which took place two years after the 
founder's death, his tomb was erected and inscribed; 
it is thought that the exact spot where he lay may 
hâve been then unknown. 

After the second dethronement and subséquent 
murder of the Sultan Hasan, a son of his dethroned 
brother Hajji was proclaimed; but on May 29, 1363, 
this Sultan also was deposed on the ground of incom- 

[164] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

petence, and hîs place gîven to another grandson of 
Nasir, Sha'ban, who at the time was ten years old. 
His reîgn was rather longer than that of his pred- 
ecessors, and it was not until March 15, 1376, that 
he was murdered by the Mamelukes, for refusing a 
largess of money which they demanded. To the 
right of the Street leading to the Citadel there is to 
be found the Mosque of this Sultan, the founder's 
inscription dating from the year 1369. It contains 
a wonderful plénitude of titles, among which the 
most remarkable is that of " master of the Isma'ilian 
fortresses and the Alexandrian frontiers." The con- 
quest of the Assassins, who played so ominous a part 
in Oriental politics, was an achievement of which 
the Sultan Baibars was justly proud; the remnant of 
the sect were, however, under the protection of the 
Egyptian Sultans, and every now and then they were 
required to supply persons ready to discharge the 
function which won them their former famé. The 
mention of Alexandria is due to the fact that in 1365 
the King of Cyprus thought fît to make a raid on 
Alexandria, which he took and sacked; his success 
was only momentary, for an Egyptian army was 
speedily sent to the relief of the maritime capital, and 
the Franks fled with their plunder before it arrived. 
The Sultan, however, decided to garrison Alexandria 
with a stronger force than before. 

The popular name for this Mosque is " the Sul- 
tan's Mother"; or " Queen Barakah," to whom it 
was dedicated by the Sultan. The meaning of such 
a dedication probably is that the Sultan assigned to 

[167] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

her the merit that he had acquired by the founda- 
tion. She was afterwards buried under the cupola. 
A tomb that by popular tradition is supposed to con- 
tain the Queen's remains is shown by an inscription 
to belong to a princess Zahrah, whose name the 
chroniclers do not appear to know. The Sultan 
himself is said to repose in this mosque, though hîs 
corpse went through some vicissitudes before it 
reached its final resting-place. After his assassina- 
tion it was thrown into a well, whence it was presently 
rescued to be interred near the sanctuary of the Say- 
yidah Nefisah; a slave transferred it thence to the 
mosque that bears his mother's name. 

The Mosque or School of the Emir Al-Jai con- 
tains the grave of the minister after whom it is 
named, and who was the husband of the Princess 
Barakah. After the death of the Queen he disputed 
with the Sultan her son over the succession to her 
property, fought some battles, and being compelled 
to flee from Egypt was drowned while attempting 
to cross the Nile on horseback. His body was fished 
up by divers, and was interred in the Mosque which 
he had built, north of the Mosque of the Sultan 
Hasan. As usual copious revenues were settled upon 
it, and courses instituted for two of the orthodox 
schools of law. 

After the murder of this Sultan an infant son of 
his named Ali was set on the throne, and eventually 
the highest offices in the state came into the hands 
of two praetorians, Barakah and Barkuk, of whom 
the latter ère long succeeded in ousting the former, 

[i68] 



NASIR AND HIS SONS 

and usurping the Sultan's place. On May 19, 1381, 
when the Sultan Ali died, his place was given to an 
infant brother Hajji; but on November 26, 1382, 
Barkuk set this child aside, and had himself pro- 
claimed Sultan, thereby ending the Bahri dynasty, 
and commencing that of the Burjis or Circassians. 



[169] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

^^^^^HE reign of Barkuk, who was the first of 
M C^\ the Circassians to displace the family of 
^L J Kala'un, was exceedingly troublous, since 
^^^^ many of the Emirs aspired to do as he had 
done. Indeed, after seven years he was actually com- 
pelled to abdicate and allow his predecessor Hajji to 
be restored to the throne under the tutelage of another 
Emir, Kerak being, as usual, the place of retirement 
for the ousted sovereign. Before this calamity he 
had taken care to perpetuate his name by a mosque 
or school in the ancient Nahhassin Street, between 
the Hospital of Kala'un and the Kamiliyyah School. 
It is called the New Zahiriyyah, to distinguish it 
from the foundation of the Sultan Baibars I., who 
also bore the title Zahir; only în the case of Barkuk 
it is said to hâve been taken with the signification 
*^ midday ruler," because he happened to be pro- 
claimed Sultan at midday, whereas his predecessor 
had meant nothing more definite by it than " con- 
queror." This building, which has a rîght to the 
names mosque, school and hospice — since it was origi- 
nally intended to harbour a number of Sufis — is re- 

[170] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

markable for the long corridors and large vestibules 
which hâve to be traversed before arriving at the 
main court; for the arcades which, set at an equal 
distance from the north and south walls of the court, 
divide it into three portions; and for the colouréd 
marbles which to a height of six mètres cover the 
wall which contains the Kiblah. The tomb which 
adjoins the building is thought to contain the remains 
of a daughter of the Sultan who died in infancy in 
1386, before the completion of the building; at a 
later period the remains of différent members of his 
family were brought together and buried in the same 
spot. He himself, of course, lies in the vast mauso- 
leum built for him in the désert by his son Faraj. 
The Minbar is the gift of the Sultan Jakmak, who 
reigned from 1438 to 1453; a door plated with 
bronze, which originally belonged to some part of 
the institution, was at one time in the possession of 
an Armenian dealer in the Mouski. 

Owing to the ever-increasing popularîty of al- 
Azhar, the lectures which were originally to hâve 
been given in this building hâve long ceased; but 
this, says Ali Pasha, is the case with the greater num- 
ber of the schools and collèges founded in Cairo. 
Indeed, it is clear that far more of thèse buildings 
were erected than bore any relation to either the 
spiritual or educational needs of the people. Sul- 
tans and Emirs thought this the proper line for them 
to follow, and in founding schools and hospices 
merely did as others had done. 

To Egyptians Barkuk is a monarch of interest, as 

[171] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

having abolished the old " bank-hoUday " with which 
the Coptic New Year's Day was celebrated. The 
description which the historians give of it resembles 
the English bank-holiday in some particulars, while 
it has some features which we do not attempt to re- 
produce. " On that day the rabble of Cairo used to 
gather together at the doors of the great; the Master 
of the Cérémonies used to make out receipts for large 
sums, and any magnate who refused to pay them had 
to endure a volley of abuse. A picket would be 
stationed at his door, and refused to leave it till he 
had paid the sum assigned him by the Master, which 
was taken from him by violence. The lazy crowd 
would stand in the streets and besprinkle each other 
with dirty water, throw raw eggs in each other's 
faces and interchange missiles of mats and shoes. 
Ail the streets were blocked and traffic stopped. 
Houses and shops were ail locked up, and any person 
found in the market, whatever his eminence or 
station, would be rudely accosted, besprinkled with 
dirty water, pelted with raw eggs and bufïeted with 
shoes. Neither buying nor selling was permitted, 
and the people drank wine and committed other im- 
proprieties in places of public récréation. The 
brawling that ensued led to the loss of many lives." 
A more pleasant feature of the célébration was that 
people sent each other présents of fruit — pomegran- 
ates, almonds, quinces, apples, dates, grapes, melons, 
fîgs, peaches, pots of chicken jelly, barrels of rose- 
water, trays of Cairene sweets. 

Barkuk, whose name means Apricot, and had to be 

[172] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

banished from the fruiterers' vocabulary so long as 
he reigned, made a sort of alliance with the Otto- 
man Sultan Bayazid, and incurred the wrath of his 
enemy the terrible Timur Lenk, who at this time was 
desolating the East. In order that there might be 
no truce, he proceeded to murder the envoy of the 
Mongol world-conqueror — a proceeding which at 
this time was normal in Oriental diplomacy. The 
great encounter with Timur, however, was postponed 
until the following reign. 

A monument of the time of Barkuk is the school of 
the Emir Inal al-Yusufî, south of the Bab Zuwailah. 
The inscription which records the name of the 
founder is on the neighbouring fountain, and is of 
interest, according to van Berchem, as being the 
earliest example of a poetical distich inscribed on a 
fountain, to which in later times there were many 
parallels. 

The founder was a celebrity of the time, who held 
various offices and enjoyed many honours. He 
figures on the stage fîrst about the time when Barkuk 
was aiming at the sovereignty. Being in command 
of an army corps, he seized the Citadel, and endeav- 
oured to maintain it in the Sultan Hajji's name, but 
was outwitted by Barkuk, who got into the fortress 
by a secret door. He was afterwards able to secure 
Barkuk's favour, and was appointed to the governor- 
ship of various cities in Syria; this mode of employ- 
ment constituting, as indeed it still does, an honour- 
able form of banishment. As governor of Aleppo 
he took the side of Barkuk against Yelbogha, who in 

[175] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the year 1389 raised the standard of revolt, but was 
defeated and imprisoned. Nor was he released till 
Yelbogha, who for a time had obtained the mastery 
in Cairo, had been expelled by another Emir Min- 
tash, and this Emir was in his turn overthrown by 
Barkuk, who again resumed the sovereignty. His 
mosque was commenced in 1392 and finished the next 
year, after the founder's death. His body, which 
had been temporarily interred outside Cairo, was 
then brought to the resting-place which he had pre- 
pared for it. 

The uncertainty which attached to the post of Sul- 
tan apparently had at this time the rather remark- 
able efïect of making the rival usurpers more lenient 
and forgiving towards each other. Barkuk, when 
caught by his enemy Yelbogha, had been honour- 
ably treated, and though condign punishment had 
been threatened to anyone who harboured him, the 
person found guilty of this act was, in fact, praised 
and rewarded. When Barkuk in his turn got Yel- 
bogha in his power, the restored Sultan gave him an 
honourable place in the court at which he had for a 
time been virtually suprême. 

To the time of Barkuk belongs the Khan Khalîlî, 
now a famous and familiar place of merchandise. 
Its site is that part of the ancient Fatimide Palace 
where the Caliphs used to be buried. Chaharkas, 
master of the stable to Barkuk, becoming possessed 
of the site, had the remains of the Fatimide Caliphs 
exhumed, and carried on asses' backs to the Barkiy- 
yah Gâte, where they were flung on dunghills, this 

[176] 




^^v 



AN OLD HOUSE NEAR THE ÏENTMAKERS BAZAAK. CAIRO. 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

being his mode of showing his contempt for dead 
heretics: an act of fanaticism for which, if Makrizi 
may be believed, he was afterwards punished by be- 
ing allowed to remain naked and unburied outside 
the walls of Damascus. 

When Barkuk died in 1398, according to the cus- 
tom that had so often proved disastrous, his son, 
Faraj, a lad aged thirteen, was appointed his succes- 
sor under the guardianship of two Emirs. In the 
three years that followed the Egyptian dominions in 
Asia were in conséquence swallowed up partly by the 
Ottoman Sultan, and partly by the terrible Timur, 
whose demand for homage was granted in 1402 by 
the Egyptian government, when the princes who had 
sought refuge from the world-conqueror in Egypt 
were also delivered up. The death of Timur in the 
beginning of 1405 restored Egyptian authority in 
Syria, which, however, became a rendezvous for ail 
who were discontented with the rule of Faraj and his 
Emirs, and two months after Timur's death was in 
open rébellion against Faraj. He succeeded indeed 
in defeating the rebels, but was compelled by in- 
subordination on the part of his Circassian Mame- 
lukes to abdicate, when his brother was proclaimed 
Sultan in his place. This brother was, however, 
deposed after two months, and Faraj, who had been 
in hiding, was recalled. Most of his reign was oc- 
cupied with revolts on the part of Syrian governors, 
in order to quell which he frequently visited Syria. 
Among the leaders of the rebels was Sheik Mah- 
mudi, afterwards Sultan in Egypt, with the title 

[ 179] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Muayyad. Owing to the disturbance and mîsgov- 
ernment the population of Syria and Egypt is said to 
hâve shrunk in the time of Faraj to one-third of what 
it had been before, and the Sultan violated Moslem 
sentiment not only by debauchery, but even more 
by having his image stamped on coins. 

The reign of Faraj, though politically disastrous^ 
is perpetuated in Egypt by several notable buildings. 
One of thèse is the school of the Emir Jamal al-din 
Yusuf in the Jamaliyyah Street. It is sometimes 
called the ^' Suspended Mosque," a name given to 
any such building to which there is access by a flight 
of stairs. The place was originally a store. When 
the Emir began to turn it into a mosque and school, 
he utilised materials purchased by him for a trifling 
sum from the Sultan Hajji, who for a time displaced 
Barkuk, and which had formed the furniture of the 
mosque of the Sultan Sha'ban on the Citadel. The 
sums settled on teachers and pupils in this school 
seem to hâve been specially handsome — 300 francs a 
month for each of the former, and thirty with rations 
for each of the latter. The teachers at al-Azhar 
hâve to be contented still with pay on the latter scale. 

This generosity had, however, been provided by 
gross extortion. Moreover by a method adopted by 
many in Egypt the interest on the benefactions was 
settled on the founder's family in perpetuity. Be- 
fore the Mosque was completed, the Emir Yusuf was 
imprisoned and executed by the Sultan, who, as 
usual, confiscated the property. His first idea was 
to destroy the new building; but being warned by; 

[180] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

the légal authorities that such an act would leave a 
painful impression on the people, he preferred the 
alternative of appropriating it, and having his own 
name inscribed instead of Yusuf s. This was there- 
fore carried out. The name of the Sultan Faraj was 
placed at the summit of the walls which bound the 
central court, on the chandeliers, carpets and ceilings. 
However, the name of Faraj no longer appears there, 
nor indeed in the solitary inscription round the court 
which is the only inscription that remains, It would 
appear that after the death of Faraj the brother of 
the founder succeeded in recovering control of the 
institution, with possession of the benefactions, and 
he probably had the name of Faraj removed. The 
document in virtue of which this brother had got 
possession of the institution was afterwards demon- 
strated to be a forgery, and the control was restored 
to the court officiai who by the will of the first 
founder was to hâve charge of it. 

The great mausoleum in the cemetery called the 
Tombs of the Caliphs, which is named after Barkuk, 
is the work of the Sultan Faraj. The popular ascrip- 
tion is so far right that Barkuk is actually buried in 
the mosque, and that the building was ordered by 
that Sultan though achieved by his son. The in- 
scriptions which it contains furnish a séries of dates 
from 1398 to 1483, the earliest being that on a marble 
column in front of the Sultan Barkuk's tomb in the 
north mausoleum, which, however, merely records 
the time of his death; the latest being that of the Sul- 
tan Kayetbai, on the marble pulpit in the sanctuary 

[181] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of the monastery. Barkuk's tomb was not finished 
till nine years after his death. Other persons buried 
in the building are his son Abd al-Aziz, whose short 
reign interrupted that of Faraj ; " a young man," 
probably a son of Faraj, who himself died at Damas- 
cus; and one of his daughters, the princess Shakra. 

The so-called Tombs of the Caliphs occupy a 
cemetery fîrst used in Fatimide times, when Badr al- 
Jamali, a famous personage of that period, erected 
himself a tomb north of the hill on which the Citadel 
was afterwards built. The région became popular 
and fashionable for this purpose. The fact of vari- 
ons saints being buried there was probably what sug- 
gested to Barkuk to hâve his mausoleum in the same 
place. He died without having commenced to build 
ît; his son set about the filial duty at once, and it took 
twelve years to complète. 

Another monument of the Sultan Faraj is a school, 
called by the modest name Zawiyah (literally 
" Cell,") a little to the south of the Bab Zuwailah. 
It is usually known as the Zawiyat al-Duheshah, the 
latter word signifying Hall or Court. Over it are 
rooms the rental of which was settled on the school. 
The school or mosque itself has a kiblah of coloured 
marble. Close by it is a fountain with a maktab, or 
school for the young above it, also the foundation of 
the same Sultan. 

The causes of the fréquent change of rulers from 
the time of Barkuk to the end of the Circassian 
dynasty are not always intelligible; in the case of 
Faraj they appear to hâve been notorious incompe- 

[182] 




■m 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

tence displayed at a perîod when the Moslem world 
was conf ronted in the person of Timur with an enemy 
who threatened to exterminate it. His career was 
closed by a gênerai revolt of the Syrian Emirs, who 
defeated him at the battle of Lajun in May, 141 2. A 
document was drawn up by the judges at the com- 
mand of the victors declaring Faraj a murderer and 
débauchée who was unfit to reign; and that there 
might be no jealousy between the two Emirs who 
were chiefly responsible for his downf ail, they agreed 
to install as Sultan the Caliph Musta'in while the two 
Emirs were to hâve separate sphères of influence. 
More than a century and a half, then, since the ter- 
mination of Abbasid rule in Baghdad, a descendant, 
or at least a professed descendant of the impérial 
family was given something more than a nominal 
position at the head of the chief Moslem state. He 
did not apparently much believe in his good fortune; 
and before investiture as Sultan stipulated that, if he 
were forced to abdicate, he might résume his nominal 
dignity of Caliph. This stipulation turned out to be 
very necessary, although it was not observed ; at the 
end of less than six months the Emir to whom Egypt 
had fallen, Sheik Mahmudi, desired the title as well 
as the rights of Sultan, and easily obtained a déclara- 
tion from the ecclesiastical authorities that a man of 
business was wanted at the head of afïaîrs. The Ab- 
basid was therefore deposed from his Sultanate, and 
soon after was deprived of the title of Caliph also. 
Naturally the new Sultan had to fîght the colleague 
whose sphère of influence was to hâve been Syrîa, 

[185] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

and who refused to recognise any overlord but the 
Caliph. But Sheik Mahmudi, now called the Sul- 
tan Muayyad, appears to hâve been a capable gên- 
erai, and in the course of several campaigns he 
reduced Syria to complète subjection, captured his 
rival Nauruz, " who had been to him more than a 
brother and reposed his head on the same pillow," 
and sent his head to be exposed on the Bab Zuwailah. 
With the Bab Zuwailah this Sultan was otherwise 
connected, for he had in the time of Faraj been im- 
prisoned in the Shama'il gaol, which adjoined it. 
To commemorate his imprisonment and subséquent 
promotion, he determined to erect on the site of this 
prison a mosque which should bear his name, in ful- 
filment of a vow that he made when confined therein 
and sufïering from the vermin which infested the 
place. The mosque was commenced three years after 
his élévation; no forced labour was employed in 
the construction, ail workmen being honourably re- 
munerated; only the marble slabs and columns were 
taken from a variety of older buildings which had to 
be pulled down. In two years' time the eastern 
liwan was finished, and the Friday prayer was cele- 
brated there. Before this the Sultan had endowed 
the institution with a rich library, taken from the old 
library of the Citadel, and so perhaps containing 
some volumes that had once belonged to the Fatimide 
collection, to which a certain Barizi, whose house at 
Boulak the Sultan was in the habit of visiting, added 
500 volumes, to the value, we are told,of 10,000 dinars, 
securing to himself and his descendants by this gift 

[186] 



ÎTHE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

the office of librarian. In order to find place for 
the lavatory some dwellings were purchased and de- 
molished by the vizier, whose own foundation will 
next be mentioned. The minarets of the new mosque 
were built on the flanking towers of the Bab Zu- 
wailah; one of them, soon after érection, was found 
to be out of the perpendicular, and its démolition was 
ordered by the architect. In the course of this opéra- 
tion a stone fell and killed one of the passers-by, in 
conséquence whereof the gâte was closed for thirty 
days, " the like whereof had not happened since 
Cairo was built." The cupolas which cover the 
graves of a daughter of the Sultan, buried before the 
first service had been held in the mosque, and the 
Sultan himself with his son Ibrahim were finished at 
différent times, both after 1421, the year of the Sul- 
tan's death. 

The story of this Ibrahim throws a painful light 
on the builder of the mosque and its first librarian 
and preacher. The year before the Sultan's death 
he became so infirm that when he wanted to move 
he had to be carried on the shoulders of his slaves. 
The preacher told him that the army was tired of a 
paralysed Sultan, and were turning their regards to 
his strong and gallant son. The best plan, he sug- 
gested, was to get rid of this rival by poison. The 
advice was foUowed; but on the following Friday 
the Sultan came to hear a funeral sermon preached 
over his victim in the mosque which contained his 
remaîns. The preacher, with the view of diverting 
suspicion from his master, delivered an afïecting dis- 

[187] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

course, telling how the Prophet late in life had him- 
self lost a son of the same name, Ibrahim, and quot- 
ing the afïecting and noble words of grief and 
résignation with which the founder of Islam bore the 
blow. What was intended to clear the Sultan's famé 
was regarded by him as a reproach; he determined 
then to get rid of the preacher by the same means as 
had carried ofï his son, and invited him to a meal, 
f rom the efïects of which he died in a few days' time. 

The mosque rises about fîve mètres above the level 
of the Street; in the time of Isma'il Pasha the whole 
building with the exception of the wall containing 
the Kiblah was in ruins. During his government it 
was restored, and various repairs hâve at différent 
times been executed by order of the Committee. An 
inscription in the sanctuary records some restorations 
donc by order of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mohammed 
Ali, and some are recorded as having been executed 
under a yet earlier Ibrahim Pasha, who governed 
Egypt as viceroy for the Turks at the end of the six- 
teenth century. 

The partial destruction of the mosque must hâve 
taken place after 1826, when a plan was made — pub- 
lished in Coste's " Illustrations of Cairene Architect- 
ture" — which represents ail four cloisters as com- 
plète. The work done under Ibrahim and Isma'il 
Pashas must hâve been inadéquate, since the plan of 
1890 shows only the sanctuary, or southeast, liwan as 
standing, with the rest in ruins. The work done by 
the Committee in 1890 and later consisted in restoring 
the sanctuary and rendering it fît for public worship, 

[188] 




THE DOME OF EL MOAIYAD FKOM BAB ZUWEYLEH, DAMASCUS. 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

repaîring the great perron by whîch the mosque îs 
entered, and completing the minarets. 

Two years before the érection of this wonderful 
édifice a school was built in the ancient région Be- 
tween the Two Walls, sometimes called the Fakhri 
School after its founder Fakhr al-din, Vizier of the 
Sultan Muayyad, but better known as the " Girls' 
School." Its founder had an unenviable réputation : 
" He combined the tyranny of the Armenians with 
the cunning of the Christians, the devilry of the Copts 
and the injustice of the tax-gatherers, being by origin 
an Armenian, and trained among the other three 
classes mentioned." He at one time had to flee to 
the Kan of Baghdad, but found means to regain the 
favour of the Egyptian Sultan, who had in him a 
convenient instrument for the extortion of money 
from his subjects. In 1852 it was restored by a wife 
of Mohammed Ali, but has since undergone further 
altérations. 

To a compétent ruler Orientais, and perhaps not 
they only, are willing to forgive much : and the judg- 
ment which they pass on the Sultan Muayyad is on 
the whole exceedingly f avourable. They admire his 
skill in music and versification, his taste for the fine 
arts, which undoubtedly is exemplified in his Mosque, 
and his keen knowledge of men. 

There lies in the Muayyad Mosque one more mem- 
ber of its founder's family, his son, Ahmad, who 
reigned after him, if a suckling can be said to reign. 
His story is rather tragical. Muayyad's praetorians 
demanded that a son of his should reign over them; 

[191] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

and the surviving son was eighteen months old. He 
was proclaimed sovereign in his nurse's arms, and in- 
jured for life by fright at the beating of the drums. 
The Emir who was to govern for him married his 
mother as soon as he decently could, and hurried him 
ofï to Syria, there to quell one of the rebellions that 
had by this time become normal on such occasions. 
By the most ruthless exécutions he succeeded in quell- 
ing it; and when he had quelled it he at once divorced 
the queen mother, deposed her son, and sent him to 
Alexandria, where dangerous persons were ordinarily 
imprisoned. There nine years later he was carried 
ofï by plague. But the queen-mother had not been 
Muayyad's wife without learning some of the secrets 
of empire. Before the usurper reached his capi- 
tal, he knew that there was poison in his veins; and 
after three months' reign he went to join his victims. 
" God be pleased with him!" says the historian — 
truly a marvellous wish. 

Another ephemeral child's reign and a séries of 
palace intrigues ended in the throne being occupied 
in 1422 by a powerful ruler, Barsbai, who took the 
title Ashraf, less ruthless in his ways than his pred- 
ecessors, yet not unwilling to use poison when con- 
venient. His reign lasted from 1422 till 1438, and 
was on the whole a peaceful time for Egypt, though 
twice while it lasted much of the population was 
swept away by plague. In a census made during 
this reign, on the occasion of a new tax being intro- 
duced, it was found that the total number of towns 
and villages in Egypt had sunk to 2170, whereas in 

[192] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

the fourth century A. H. it had stood at 10,000. Bars- 
bai began shortly after bis usurpation to build bis 
monument, wbicb is called Ashrafîyyab, after tbe 
title by wbicb be reigned. It is situated wbere tbe 
Street of tbe same name crosses tbe Rue Neuve. Its 
site was occupied by a number of stores, of wbicb tbe 
rents were settled on anotber mosque; tbese were 
pulled down, but tbat tbere migbt be no sacrilège, 
otber rents were substituted for tbem. Tbe con- 
struction was confijled to a certain Abd al-Basit, wbo à^ 
occupied important posts in botb bis reigns and tbe 
last; be was in Muayyad's reign manager of tbe trust 
funds wbicb provided tbe covering for tbe Ka'bab 
sent yearly to Meccab, and keeper of tbe royal ward- 
robe; Barsbai made bim inspector-general of tbe 
army, and relied in most tbings on bis advice. In 
Muayyad's reign be bad bimself built a scbool or 
hospice in tbe Kburunfusb quarter, opposite tbe 
palace of tbe Sayyid al-Bekri. 

Tbe Mosque of Barsbai consists of two large and 
two small liwans — a cbaracteristic of tbe later period 
of mosque construction, due to tbe fact tbat of tbe 
four ortbodox Systems of law only two retained tbeir 
popularity in Egypt. No columns are employed in 
it; and it belongs to tbe class called Suspended, as 
tbere is an ascent to it by a fligbt of steps. Ali 
Pasba tells us tbat it is largely used by students of 
al-Azbar in preparing tbeir lessons, owing to its size 
and tbe clean condition in wbicb it is kept, and, of 
course, its proximity to tbe great University. A 
mueddin wbo once was drunk wben be perf ormed bis 

[193] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS \ 

sacred duty dreamed that the Prophet whipped him 
with the kurbash; he woke and finding on his person 
the weals resulting from the blows, repented of the 
wickedness cf his ways. For many years the helmet 
of the King of Cyprus was suspended over the door. 
For one of Barsbai's titles to the gratitude of the 
Egyptians was that he avenged the repeated raids of 
the Cyprians on Alexandria by sending to Cyprus a 
ileet which burned Limasol, and another which took 
Famagusta, while a later expédition succeeded in 
taking the King of Cyprus captive, who was brought 
to Cairo, and presently released for a ransom of 
200,000 dinars, on condition of acknowledging the 
suzerainty of the Egyptian Sultan and paying him 
tribute. An inscription going along the sanctuary 
and the western liwan about the middle of the wall, 
contains the deed of settlement on the Mosque, which 
has been reproduced with an ample and exhaustive 
commentary by van Berchem. The benefactions as 
usual took the shape of rents on buildings for the 
most part, but some of them were in the form of 
lands. The deed also gives a list of other settle- 
ments made by the same Sultan both on his heirs and 
on other pious institutions. 

This is the last building mentioned by the great 
Cairene topographer, Makrizi, whose work was be- 
gun in the reign of Muayyad, and finished in the 
fourth year of Barsbai. Few cities in the world 
hâve been so exhaustively described as Cairo is by this 
writer, who also composed a history of the Mame- 
luke dynasty up to his time, and a biographical dic- 

[194] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

tionary of persons who had lived in Egypt. His 
book on Cairo bas been the basis of ail archasological 
studies connected with Moslem Egypt; and the 
French Archaeological Mission bas provided stu- 
dents witb a translation of it. 

In the cemetery to the east of Cairo the Sultan 
iBarsbai built himself a mausoleum and a hospice. 
The latter bas disappeared; the former exists, but bas 
undergone some altérations. In the ruins of the 
latter a lengthy inscription bas been discovered, de- 
tailing the revenues settled by the Sultan on thèse in- 
stitutions; it is rather remarkable that two of this 
Sultan's foundations should contain such deeds which 
are somewhat rare. The présent deed contains pro- 
vision for the maintenance of certain other tombs 
besides the Sultan's; among the buildings furnishing 
rentals are some shops at Bab al-Luk. Thèse in- 
scriptions, Ali Pasha observes, by no means had the 
efïect contemplated by their author, which was to 
render the settlements inaliénable, and the founda- 
tions regularly maintained; they were overtaken by 
decay, as others w^ere. 

The last years of Barsbai were clouded by the 
decay of the Sultan's mental f aculties, leading him to 
reproduce the part played of old by Hakim. He en- 
acted that no woman should appear in the streets at 
ail; the layers-out of corpses had to apply for a 
spécial badge from the magistrate before they could 
discharge their duty. The animosity against dogs 
that at one time seized the Prophet of Islam also 
found its way into this Sultan's bosom; they were 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

banished from Cairo to Gizeh, and a reward ofïered 
to ail who arrested one of thèse animais. Wrongs 
done to women and dogs perhaps evoked little resent- 
ment in the minds of the Egyptians; but the Sultan's 
eccentricity also assumed a homicidal turn, and his 
death was probably a relief to his subjects. 

He left a successor, a son fourteen years of âge, who 
was almost immediately displaced by a minister, 
Jakmak, originally a freedman of the Sultan Barkuk, 
and sixty-seven years of âge when he usurped the 
throne. And, indeed, the Palace révolutions which 
regularly followed on the death of a Sultan in this 
period, succeeded in fairly often putting into power 
a man of ripe expérience, and free from the vices 
associated often with heirs-apparent. The dethroned 
lad made an attempt to escape from his honourable 
quarters in the Citadel; he dressed himself as a 
kitchen boy, bore a tray on his head, begrimed his 
face, and went out in the company of the cook, who 
rated him in suitable style. But the unfortunate lad 
had no plan is his head of the course to be pursued 
when he had escaped, and so waited about in Cairo 
until he was retaken. The early days of Jakmak 
were distinguished by a Servile War, reminding the 
reader of his Roman history ; fîve hundred blacks fled 
from their masters, crossed to Gizeh, and there set up 
a State and a Sultan of their own. This attempt 
ended as the Roman Servile Wars ended; the slaves 
were captured and sent ofï in dhows to the markets 
of the now powerful Ottoman Empire. 

The time of this Sultan was also marked by perse- 

[196] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

cution of Christians and Jews, involving the destruc- 
tion of many Christian churches. As the chroniclers 
represent the matter, this persécution was caused by 
the Sultan's désire to enforce total abstinence; and, of 
course, the wine trade was in the hands of thèse two 
communities. If the Sultan heard of any of his 
praetorians being întoxicated, he would banish him, 
eut ofï his allowance and confiscate his property. A 
strict search was made into ail houses, and wherever 
any liquor was found it was poured away. 

Some monuments are left of Jakmak's reign. One 
is the Mosque of the Emir Tangri Bardi, called also 
the Mosque of Mu'dhi, in the Salibah Street. It 
consists, says Ali Pasha, of two liwans with a covered 
court between them ; this area is illuminated by a sky- 
light. A white cupola covers the tomb of the 
founder, an Emir who held high office, but owing to 
his surliness was known by the title, " the Public 
Nuisance,'' which the alternate name of the founder 
of the Mosque signifies. His disagreeable conduct 
was fînally the cause of his death at the hands of his 
Mamelukes. 

A more important personage of this reign was the 
Kadi Yahya (the Arabie for John), whose mosque 
is by the bridge which takes the Mouski over what 
was once the Great Canal. Its founder had the high 
office of Mayor of the Palace, and underwent repeat- 
edly exile and torture, fînally dying of the latter, 
when at the close of his long life he was drawn f rom 
his retirement by the Sultan Kaietbai, and basti- 
nadoed in the hope that treasure might be extorted 

[197] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS! 

from hîm. Of his mosque, Herz Bey observes that 
it is of the model belonging to the latest period of 
the Circassian Mamelukes. Its dimensions are small, 
its shape cruciform, the north and south liwans are 
reduced, the minaret is at the point most in view, 
the mausoleum is at the southeast, and is surrounded 
by a small school. 

The name of Jakmak himelf is commemorated by 
a mosque in the Salibah région, and a school, of 
which only the façade is preserved, in a street be- 
tween the Mouski and the Boulevard Mohammed 
Ali. 

Jakmak tried to perpetuate his dynasty by a plan 
which has often proved successful — abdicating in 
favour of his son, who, being nineteen years of âge, 
might reasonably hâve been compétent to reign. 
And, indeed, he commenced by administering tor- 
tures to various Emirs from whom he hoped to ex- 
tort money, in a manner worthy of an older man. 
The money v^as required for the usual largess de- 
manded by the praetorians on a new sovereign's ac- 
cession; and little of it being forthcoming, his min- 
ister of the works thought of the by no means new 
expédient of debasing the coinage to make a little go 
a longer way; a proceeding which so exasperated 
those whom it was meant to cajole, that a new Sultan 
was immediately elected, under whom the revolted 
praetorians besieged the son of Jakmak in the Citadel, 
and ère long starved him into surrender. Though 
at fîrst împrisoned, the dethroned Sultan lived not 
only to be released, but to return to the Citadel, not, 

[198] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

indeed, as monarch, but as the honoured guest of one 
of his successors. 

The succeeding Sultan Inal tried to secure the suc- 
cession to his son by appointing him, so soon as he 
was himself sovereign, to high office in the State; but 
he had to retract this step, which provoked jealousy. 
Since it was the custom of each succeeding Sultan to 
imprison numerous suspects, but to release many of 
those whom his predecessors had incarcerated, pos- 
sibly there were always many to whom the continuity 
of a dynasty was undesirable, for some persons are 
likely to hâve been interested in those who pined in 
captivity. Yet it would be unsafe to draw any infer- 
ences from ordinary communities to thèse régiments 
of freed slaves, torn violently from their homes in 
youth and spending their whole lives as garrison 
amid an alien population. The Janissaries would 
form the nearest parallel to them; but then the Janis- 
saries did not furnish the sovereign, nor ordinarily 
the ministers. 

This Sultan — ^whose reign lasted from 1453 to 
1460, and whose year of accession was noteworthy 
because in it Cairo was decorated to celebrate the 
taking of Constantinople by the Ottomans, who be- 
fore another century had passed were to be masters 
of Egypt also — like his predecessor perpetuated his 
name by a school, mosque and monastery in the ceme- 
tery that already contained some noble monuments 
of the kind. The whole set of buildings is sur- 
rounded by a wall which encloses various spaces, 
covered and uncovered. The mausoleum was com- 

[199] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

menced by the founder when he was still a minister 
only, two years before he ascended the throne, and is 
said to be the only example of a monument begun by 
a minister and ended by the same man as sovereign. 
Some of his children appear to hâve been buried in 
it before his accession, and steps were taken to alter 
the inscriptions in order to make them accord with 
his régal titles. After he had become Sultan, he de- 
cided on enlarging his former scheme by the inclu- 
sion in it of a vast monastery or hospice, the numerous 
cells of which, though deserted, count, says van 
Berchem, among the most curions relies of Egyptian 
Sufism. The historians record the festivities with 
which the inauguration of the monastery was accom- 
panied; and the dedicatory inscription, without nam- 
ing, makes an allusion to Jamal al-din Yusuf, direc- 
tor of public works at this time, who oversaw the 
building of this monument, and indeed is said to hâve 
supplied the necessary funds. We hâve already met 
with this personage, suggesting tampering with the 
coinage as a fînancial expédient. At a later period 
he suggested, and with some difficulty carried 
through, an expédient of the contrary sort, the 
restoration of pure métal; a proceeding which cost 
many persons the third of their fortunes, though its 
bénéficiai results were speedily felt. 

How many persons took advantage of the numer- 
ous hospices for religions retirement we cannot say; 
besides those which hâve met us as connected or 
identical with mosques, there was a humbler sort 
called Takiyyeh or Ribat, and a building of this sort, 

[ 200 ] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

founded by Inal, still exists in Cairo, though only 
three of those mentioned by Makrizi hâve left any 
traces. Some of thèse institutions were for female 
ascetics, the greater number for maies. The Moslem 
notion of asceticism or sainthood by no means ex- 
cludes marriage; yet it is likely that most of those 
who passed their lives in thèse retreats were, when 
they entered, near the end of their worldly careers. 

The account given of the Sultan Inal personally is 
more than usually favourable. He shed no blood, 
except in judicial exécutions, and he lived with one 
wife. On the other hand, he was so ignorant that he 
had to sign public documents with his mark, being 
unable to read or write. 

An event occurred in this reign which illustrâtes 
the relations between Sultan and Caliph. The soli- 
tary duty of the latter was, as we hâve often seen, to 
give legitimacy to the title of the former; and in the 
uncertainty as to the resuit, when there was a variety 
of pretenders to the throne, the Caliph's course was 
not easy to steer. The Caliph who had invested 
Inal, having espoused his cause before his rival had 
been defeated, considered himself afterwards insuffi- 
ciently rewarded and took up with another pretender. 
The pretender was defeated, and Inal then demanded 
that the Caliph should divest himself of his office. 
" I divest myself of the Caliphate," he then ex- 
claimed, '^ and I also divest Inal of the Sultanate." 
This proceeding alarmed the audience, not seeing an 
exit from the deadlock. A courtier easily found 
one. Having divested himself first, he observed, the 

[203] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

ex-Caliph no longer had the power to divest anyone 
else. He ought to hâve begun with the Sultan, if 
he had meant the act to be valid. 

The sufferings of the civil population are said to 
hâve been very great in this reign, notwithstanding 
the benevolence of the Sultan. Where the sover- 
eign's right was based entirely on force, and had 
absolutely no root in the loyalty of the subjects or 
tfieir hereditary affection, it was his natural policy 
to furnish himself with a bodyguard of which the 
members solely looked to him; the freedmen of an 
earlier sovereign could not be trusted, as such loyalty 
as they were capable of feeling would hâve for its 
object, at least in part, the heirs of their former mas- 
ter. The accession of each usurper therefore either 
threw out of work, or left in dangerous idleness, a 
great number of mercenaries who had no affection 
for the Egyptian populace, while introducing a f resh 
supply in the service of the new Sultan whom he 
could not venture by violently répressive measures to 
offend. The resuit was a succession of riots, in 
which shops were looted and peaceful passengers 
robbed without any possibility of obtaining redress. 

The successor of Inal, his son Ahmad, who came 
to the throne in 1460, his father having abdicated in 
his favour some time before his own death, was a 
favourite of the Egyptian people, and endeavoured 
to repress the evils which hâve been stated. He ap- 
parently trusted too much to the loyalty of his f ather's 
freedmen and slaves, who as soon as they saw that he 
intended to govern for the good of his subjects, turned 

[204] 



THE EARLY CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

against him. They sent to the Governor of Da- 
mascus, ofïering him the Sultanate; but, in their im- 
patience to get rid of Ahmad, could not wait for his 
arrivai, and appointed the commander of the forces, 
Khushkadam, as stopgap. Naturally the stopgap 
refused to make way for the person whose deputy he 
was meant to be, and retained his place. 



[205] 




THE LAST OF THE CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

HUSHKADAM, the thirty-eighth Sultan 
of the Mameluke dynasty, is said to hâve 
been in origin a Greek slave, but the name 
which Arab writers use for " Greek " does 
not give much information, since it is applied to ail 
résidents in Asia Minor or Turkey in Asia, and 
indeed the Ottoman Sultan is by Arabie authors of 
this period called the King of the Greeks {Rum). 
His reign is noteworthy for the commencement of the 
struggle between the Ottoman and the Egyptian Sul- 
tanates, which fînally led to the incorporation of 
Egypt in the Ottoman Empire. This began with a 
quarrel over the succession in the principality of Ka- 
raman, where the two Sultans favoured rival candi- 
dates, and the Ottoman Sultan Mohammed supported 
his candidate with force of arms, obtaining as the 
price of his assistance several towns in which the su- 
zerainty of the Egyptian Sultan had hitherto been 
acknowledged. Open war did not, however, break 
out between the two states in Khushkadam's time. 
His reign of six years is not otherwise of conséquence 
for the development of either Egypt or Cairo, though 
he, as usual, built himself a mausoleum. 

[206] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

His death was followed by the accession succes- 
sively of two ephemeral usurpers, after whom there 
came another great sovereign in the person of Kaiet- 
bai, who occupied the throne for the lengthy period 
of twenty-seven years (1468-1495). Much of his 
time was spent in struggles with Uzun Hasan, Prince 
of Diyarbekr, and Shah Siwar, chief of the Zulkadir 
Turcomans. He gave grave offence to the Ottoman 
Sultan, Bayazid II., by entertaining his brother Jem, 
w^ho afterwards took refuge in Christian Europe, and 
vv^as poisoned by Pope Alexander VI. In the w^ar 
which ensued the troops of Kaietbai were successful, 
and after they had repeatedly defeated the Ottomans, 
peace was made in 149 1, when the keys of the towns 
which the Ottomans had seized were handed back 
to the Egyptian Sultan. 

Kaietbai was a builder on about as great a scale as 
the Sultan Nasir, and extended his opérations far be- 
yond Cairo; he erected édifices on a costly scale at 
Meccah and Medinah, Jérusalem and elsewhere. 
The Citadel and the parts of Cairo in its neighbour- 
hood were, if we may believe the chroniclers, practi- 
cally rebuilt in a more magnificent style than before 
by this Sultan, and he founded a whole séries of 
mosques in différent parts of his capital, on the island 
Raudah, in the Kabsh, and in the great cemetery 
which already contained so many of thèse monu- 
ments. Apparently the revenues of the country must 
hâve been wasted on thèse costly schemes, and the 
State treasury was regularly during his reign in an 
exhausted condition. The historians, however, turn 

[207] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

their attention to his piety rather than to hîs extrava- 
gance, and surround his person with the romance 
attaching to a saint. Before his accession to the Sul- 
tanate was ever thought of, pious persons had the f act 
revealed to them. When a plague was raging in 
Cairo, someone dreamed that the Prophètes servant 
averted the destroying angel from Kaietbai's person. 
He told Kaietbai of this vision, and the future Sul- 
tan wisely bade him conceal it. Another person saw 
in a dream a pomegranate tree with a single fruit 
upon it, which Kaietbai hastened to pluck. He told 
Kaietbai that this was a sure omen of his sovereignty, 
but was rebuked by the future Sultan when he ven- 
tured to narrate the vision. In a vision which the 
Sultan himself saw when he went on pilgrimage he 
was informed by the Prophet that he was one of the 
saved. 

Many of the great monuments of Cairo underwent 
some form of restoration by his care, such as the 
Mosque al-Azhar, that of Sayyidah Nefisah, that of 
Amr Ibn al-As, the tomb of al-Shafî'i, the Meidan of 
the Sultan Nasir and many more. 

The chief architectural monument of his reign, 
which also marks the highest point to which art was 
carried in the days of the Circassian Mamelukes, is 
his mosque in the cemetery now called " The Tombs 
of the Caliphs." " Everything that is to be found 
separately in the other temples is united in this with 
incomparable talent," says Gayet. " The bold gate- 
way is surmounted by trefoil arch; to the left the 
façade is pierced by the Windows of a fountain 

[ 208 ] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

(sebil) and a school. Those of the fountain are 
closed with grilles of network, to the right is an 
octagon minaret with a square base ornamented with 
rosettes. The back wall of the sanctuary is pierced 
by two double Windows, separated by a rose window, 
also in glass. This arrangement is reproduced in the 
sepulchral hall. The octagonal dôme of the latter 
îs of incomparable grâce," etc. The building em- 
braces a school, a fountain, a school for children, a 
mausoleum and as usual a hospice for Sufîs, though 
this last has disappeared. German travellers visit- 
ing Cairo in 1483 were enthusiastic over the beauty 
of this mosque, which had then been completed nine 
years. Thèse travellers — ^whose accounts are re- 
printed by M. von Berchem — were greatly struck by 
the noise made by the Mohammedan " priests," i. e., 
Mueddins and Dervishes, lodged in the hospice pro- 
vîded for their use. The uncomplimentary epithet 
" dogs " was applied by thèse devotees to their Euro- 
pean visitors. 

The plan of the school (madrasah) was that of 
the latest period, in which, as has been seen, the two 
latéral liwans are increased, and the others dimin- 
ished in size. Together with the altérations in the 
structure of the schools or mosques comes the graduai 
displacement of brick by stone. The employment 
of the latter material in Egypt was a natural relie of 
the traditions of the Abbasid Caliphate, since the 
Babylon of that monarchy, no less than that of its 
predecessor, was an a figulis munita urbs. The 
architects towards the beginning of the fifteenth cen- 

[ 209 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

tury succeeded in building stone cupolas over tombs, 
but for arches which had to support great weights 
they found stone difficult to work, and soon took to 
covering the liwans with wooden ceilings in préfér- 
ence to arched roofs. 

The deed of foundation is given at length by Ali 
Pasha, and apparently exceeds in munificence ail pre- 
ceding foundations, lavish as many of thèse had been. 
The leader of prayer was to hâve fîve hundred dir- 
hems a month, and three loaves a day; there were to 
be nine well-paid mueddins, " scholarships " for two 
orphan schools, one of twenty and the other of thirty 
children; fîve hundred dirhems a day for each of 
forty Sufîs with their head, and spécial benefactions 
for spécial occasions. The mère enumeration of 
buildings settled on this fourfold institution is 
lengthy. 

A building less religions in character also belong- 
ing to the epoch of Kaietbai is the Bait al-Kadi, oc- 
cupying part of the site of the old Eastern Palace of 
the Fatimides. This house was a portion of the 
Palace of the Emir Mamai, which he appears to hâve 
repaired rather than to hâve built. The late Mr. 
H. C. Kay, who did not a little for the exploration 
of Cairo, discovered some forty yards west of the law 
court which is usually identified with the Palace, 
a ruined saloon, with liwans separated from the cen- 
tral portion by lofty arches of solid masonry. The 
base of the arches contained an inscription which 
identified this saloon as part of Mamai's Palace. In 
Mr. Kay's time it was occupied as a corn mill, with 

[210] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

stabling for the cattle that worked the mill. Thîs 
Marnai played an important part in the history of his 
time, and was repeatedly employed as ambassador 
from the Egyptian Sultan to the Ottoman Porte. 
The loggia is remarkable for its size. 

Another Palace, of which some remains are to be 
found, is that of the Emir Yashbak, behind the 
mosque of the Sultan Hasan, constituting one of 
the latest spécimens of the civil architecture of 
the Mamelukes. It comprehends a rez-de-chaussée 
vaulted with a saloon (ka'ah) of gigantic dimensions. 

Three buildings bearing the title Wakalah (often 
pronounced Ukalah) were erected by Kaietbai in- 
side Cairo. This form of édifice is similar to what 
is called a khan in Syria; it means a magazine in 
which strange merchants can deposit their wares. 
One of those founded by this Sultan was in the Rue 
Surujiyyah, and was condemned by the Committee, 
who, however, took care that any objects left there of 
artistic or archaeological interest should be carefully 
removed and preserved. Of the two others, opposite 
al-Azhar and near the Bab al-Nasr respectively, the 
façades are preserved. The Wakalah in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Nasr Gâte had three façades — that 
which faces the street shows an alternate séries of 
mashrabiyyahs and grilles, the first floor overlapping 
the ground floor. 

Various other buildings of interest date from the 
time of the Sultan Kaietbai. One of thèse is the 
School or Mosque of Muzhir, in the lane leading 
from the street Between the Two Walls to the 

[211] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Khurunfush. Of its two gâtes one is ornamented 
with bronze, the other with inlaid ivory work in 
geometrical patterns. The two larger liwans hâve 
pillars of marble, and the whole is paved with 
marbles of various colours also arranged in geometri- 
cal designs. The woodwork of this mosque is also 
highly admired. The whole is said to be still much 
as its founder left it, except for certain slight im- 
provements and repairs executed at various times. 
Muzhir, or rather Ibn Muzhir, was private secretary 
to the Sultan Kaietbai, and as such had to represent 
him on certain occasions. On one that is recorded 
by the chronicler he was sent by the Sultan to a coun- 
cil that had been summoned of the ecclesiastical 
authorities, to décide whether for the defence of the 
State it was désirable to seize the revenues of the reli- 
gious foundations, leaving them just enough to main- 
tain them in working order. The Sheiks naturally 
made the same reply as the privileged orders when 
their taxation was suggested at the commencement 
of the French Révolution; such an act was against 
the divine law, and the Sheiks, if they countenanced 
it, would hâve to answer for the impiety on the Day 
of Judgment; it was of no use summoning them to a 
council, if such a proposition were put before them 
to discuss. 

The Sultan Kaietbai made himself famous for the 
economy of his régime, and the expédients which he 
invented for saving the revenues of the State — in 
order to squander them on his buildings — one of thèse 
might hâve been borrowed from the Odyssey of 

[212] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

Homer if we could imagine that this Sultan had 
access to that poem. Persons enjoying military pay 
were summoned to the Sultan's présence and invited 
to draw a tough bow; if they failed, they were dis- 
qualifîed and their pay withdrawn. The task of dis- 
tributing it was undertaken by the Sultan personally, 
who sat on definite days for the purpose. In spite 
of this economy the fortunes which the Emirs man- 
aged to accumulate show that further supervision 
would hâve been désirable. 

The Mosque often known as that of the Sheilc 
Abu Haribah (after a saint buried in it) in the 
Ahmar Street, belongs to the time of Kaietbai, and 
was built by an Emir of his named Kachmas (Turk- 
ish for " flees not"). This person, who held a 
variety of important posts, signalised himself by 
building outside Alexandria a refuge for travellers 
who arrived after the closing of the gâtes of the city, 
when they were exposed to the attacks of marauders. 
He also founded a number of religious institutions 
in the varions cities in which he held office, chiefly 
hospices for Sufis. The Sheik Abu Haribah is a 
modem celebrity who died in the year 1851. Born 
in Upper Egypt, he studied various forms of Su- 
fism, until he was ready to start a System of his own; 
he came to Cairo and took a situation as clerk in a 
Christian bakehouse, where he proselytised and made 
as many as sixty converts to Islam. His teaching 
was greatly sought after, and his famé attracted the 
attention of the rulers of Egypt; Mohammed Ali sent 
him a présent of £500, and Abbas Pasha ofïered 

[213] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

him a gift of land, but both présents were declined. 
His disciples bave erected an ivory monument to 
him in tbe Mosque. 

The part of Cairo called Ezbekiyyeh, familiar to 
ail European visitors, dates from tbe reign of Kaiet- 
bai. According to tbe chronicler it was during tbe 
Fatimide period partly sand-beaps and partly mo- 
rass; at some time it was drained by a canal called 
tbe Maie Canal, which was blocked wben tbe Sultan 
Nasir had his Nasiri Canal dug. Tbe buildings 
which had sprung up in conséquence of tbe land be- 
ing drained now fell into ruin, and tbe région became 
a haunt of evil doers. By private enterprise a bath 
was presently built in tbe région, to which water was 
conveyed by an aqueduct from tbe Nasiri Canal; tbe 
same water was also used for agricultural purposes 
and cereals grown in fîelds. In tbe year 1470, near 
tbe beginning of Kaietbai's reign, tbe Emir Ezbek 
decided to build hère some stalls for bis camels, and 
afterwards residential quarters. He proceeded to 
hâve tbe rubbish-beaps that were there removed, to 
bave tbe land levelled, and to excavate a pond, into 
which water was introduced from tbe Nasiri Canal. 
The pond was surrounded by a stone embankment. 
Owing to tbe great liking of tbe Egyptian résidents 
for views over water, tbe région speedily became 
fashionable, and handsome résidences were erected 
ail round tbe new pool. By tbe end of Kaietbai's 
reign tbe Ezbekiyyeh, as tbe quarter was called after 
its founder, had become " a city for itself," and tbe 
same Emir proceeded to build a mosque in splendid 

[214] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

style for the religious needs of his " new city," with 
baths, stores, mills and bakehouses for its temporary 
wants. The day in the year on which water was let 
into the pool became one of public rejoicing, and the 
occasion would be celebrated by the lighting of a 
bonfire of unheard-of magnitude. 

At the time of the French occupation the bed of 
the pond was according to M. Rhoné's estimate about 
three times the area of the Place de la Concorde, or 
equal to the interior of the Champ de Mars. When 
the inundation of the Nile filled it with water, the 
surrounding buildings had the aspect of Venetian 
palaces, whereas in winter the area was covered with 
green végétation. The pond was drained by Mo- 
hammed Ali, and his successor Ibrahim Pasha had 
the recovered land covered with fine trees. Thèse 
were eut down by Isma'il Pasha, who " abandoned 
the place to the horrors of spéculation," and insti- 
tuted the public park which now occupies the middle 
of the quarter. The statue of Ibrahim Pasha which 
originally stood on a mound was transferred to its 
présent site, and the Mosque of Ezbek demolished 
to make room for its pedestal. The modem build- 
ings in this région date from the reign of Isma'il or 
his successors. 

The Emir Ezbek is celebrated for much besides 
the Ezbekiyyeh. Originally a slave of the Sultan 
Barsbai, he was purchased and manumitted by Jak- 
mak, who gave him successively two of his daughters. 
He was promoted to high office at the Egyptian 
court, and for a time held a governorship in Syria, 

[215] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

whence he returned to Egypt to be commander of the 
forces, under Kaietbai ; it was this office which under 
the Circassion régime often trained a man to be Sul- 
tan. He led expéditions against the Bédouins and 
Turcomans, helped to defeat the Ottomans, and in 
the absence of Kaietbai f rom Cairo was lef t in charge 
of afifairs. According to a custom illustrated in Eng- 
lish history by the practice of Queen Elizabeth he 
was in the habit of defraying out of his own purse 
the cost of the expéditions which he commanded. 
Like many eminent men's careers his was not un- 
clouded; he was banished four times in the course of 
it and imprisoned in Alexandria twice. When he 
died, owing to a dispute between his heirs, his estate 
was seized by the Sultan, and was discovered to in- 
clude 700,000 dinars in coin, besides goods corre- 
sponding in value; indeed, the chroniclers add, had it 
not been for what he spent in the public service, and 
what he had laid out on the Ezbekiyyeh, his wealth 
would hâve defied calculation. He is credited with 
great personal ability, but otherwise with few good 
qualities; he had a sharp tongue and an arrogant 
manner; he was implacable if once ofïended, and if 
ever he imprisoned anyone, would never permit a 
release. 

A Mosque erected by another Emir Ezbek stîU 
exists in the Birket ai-Fil (Elephant's Pool) région. 
It is of the late style, in which the two main liwans 
are enlarged to the détriment of the two latéral 
cloisters. It contains the tomb of a stepson of the 
founder, Sidi Faraj, son of a governor of Damascus 

[216] 




PALACE OF KAIT BEY, CAIRO. 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

whose widow became the wife of Ezbek. Thîs lady, 
called the Princess Bunukh, is buried close by. 

The architectural and engineering works ordered 
by the Sultan Kaietbai were more varied in character 
than most of those of his predecessors. Ezbek — of 
the Ezbekiyyeh — was employed by him to restore 
certain bridges over the canals which came between 
the Pyramids and Gizeh, and which when Saladin 
ordered his great plan of fortification, had formed 
part of a road whereby material was to be taken f rom 
the pyramids and brought to the Nile. Thèse 
bridges were seen and their inscriptions copied in the 
eighteenth century; but in the nineteenth century the 
bridges disappeared, and with them their inscriptions. 
One of thèse inscriptions spoke of ten arches, of which 
the original construction went back to a period an- 
terior to Islam. This was probably an exaggeration, 
though perhaps intended in good faith. 

Ezbek's last triumph was in the year 1491, when 
he brought his troops home from Asia Minor, after 
having inflicted a severe defeat on the Ottoman 
forces, stormed some fortresses, and taken many cap- 
tives. He returned, indeed, without having received 
leave from his chief, owing to the insubordination 
of his troops, who demanded more and more pay; 
but Cairo was adorned to welcome the victors, and 
Kaietbai made peace with the Ottomans on the 
earliest opportunity. The want of money in Egypt 
had by this time reached its height, and not ail the 
expédients which the Sultan and his ministers could 
devise produced a sufficient supply. The revenues 

[219] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of ail religious foundations were sequestrated for 
seven months, a measure extended to Syria as well 
as Egypt, and ruthlessly executed. Another plan 
adopted by the Sultan was to endow research in the 
shape of alchemy, various persons professing to turn 
base métal into gold, if money were provided to pay 
for experiments. When thèse experîments proved 
unsuccessful, the Sultan avenged himself by depriv- 
ing the unfortunate alchemists of their eyes and 
tongues. The great Nur al-din in Saladin's time 
had allowed himself to be cajoled by a man of this 
craft, who ofïered to utilise his art for the Sultan's 
benefit on condition that the gold so produced should 
only be employed for the sacred war. The charlatan 
melted down a thousand dinars, to give the Sultan 
the satisfaction of seeing, as he thought, a gold ingot 
produced out of base métal; and the Sultan, when he 
had seen it, liberally equipped the adventurer to go 
in search of a large supply of the chemicals that he 
required for his experiments, of which, naturally, 
sufficient was not to be had in Damascus. One of the 
Sultan's subjects then made out a class-list of fools, 
placing the Sultan at the head; he ofïered if the 
alchemist ever returned to erase the Sultan's name 
from this post of honour, and give it to the former, 
but never had occasion to alter his list. 

Kaietbai had one son, Mohammed, whose mother 
after his death married one of his ephemeral succes- 
sors, Jan-balat, and experienced various vicissitudes 
of fortune in the troublons times which Egypt passed 
through in the early tenth century of the Mohamme- 

[ 220] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

dan era, but bas left a monument of berself in a 
mosque at Fayyum. Tbis princess was tbe wife of 
two Sultans, tbe motber of a tbird, and tbe sister of a 
fourtb ; for tbe first of tbe two Kansubs wbo mounted 
tbe tbrone during tbese troubles owed bis promo- 
tion to tbe discovery tbat be was tbe brotber of Kaiet- 
bai's Queen. Tbe Sultan Kaietbai bad built a palace 
for bis son, in order to gratify bis taste for building; 
and in conséquence of a palace intrigue wbicb be 
was unable to quell be was induced to allow tbe 
prince to be proclaimed Sultan tbe day before bis 
own deatb ( August 7, 1496) , tbougb, being only four- 
teen years of âge, be would be unable to govern bim- 
self, but would be a puppet in tbe bands of tbe Com- 
mander of tbe forces. Tbe expédient of securing 
tbe succession by appointing tbe new Sultan during 
bis fatber's lifetime bad been already tried under 
more favourable circumstances, and bad failed. ït 
succeeded no better now; for four years tbe suprême 
power passed into tbe bands of a séries of adven- 
turers; and not till 1501 was tbere seated on it a mon- 
arcb possessing tbe capacity to maintain bimself. 

Kansub al-Gburî is tbe last great monarcb of tbe 
Circassian dynasty, and indeed of Independent 
Egypt. His name is perpetuated by tbe Mosque al- 
Gburi, in tbe neigbbourbood of tbe Citadel, and by 
anotber in tbe Street called after it Gburiyyab, not 
far from tbe Asbrafiyyab Mosque. Tbere are two 
large and two small liwans (as usual at tbis period), 
and no columns. Tbe pulpit, wbicb is mucb ad- 
mired, is said to bave a talisman to keep off Aies 

[221] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

which is, according to Ali Pasha, found to be quite 
effective. The minaret commands a fine view; and 
the mosque, which was intended to be a school, had 
the usual adjuncts of a hospice, a fountain, and a 
school for children. The cupola was supposed to 
hâve been built to hold the Koran of the Caliph 
Othman of which the binding, as might well be im- 
agined, was by this time sorely in need of repair; the 
Sultan had it f reshly bound, placed in a wooden case, 
and stored under the Cupola specially built to re- 
ceive it. A deed of benefactions rivalling that of 
Kaietbai's foundation is given by our guide in con- 
nection with this mosque; the writer of the deed was 
to hâve a pension of thirty dirhems a month and three 
loaves a day for the rest of his life. 

The story of Kansuh al-Ghuri's accession shows 
that the state of Egypt was generally unhealthy, and 
its easy conquest by a foreign power to be expected; 
for he was selected by the mutinous praetorians on 
the remarkable ground that being a man of little 
wealth and little influence, he could easily be de- 
posed; and indeed he stipulated that if they chose to 
dépose him, his life was to be guaranteed. Once in 
power he endeavoured by a variety of artifices to 
isolate the Emirs who were in control of affairs, and 
where more gentle means were unavailing, to employ 
poison. His reign was remarkable for a naval con- 
flict between the Egyptians and Portuguese, whose 
fleet interfered with the trade between India and 
Egypt; Kansuh caused a fleet to be built which 
fought naval battles with the Portuguese with vary- 

[ 222 ] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMLUKES 

ing resuit. In 15 15 there began the war with the 
Ottoman Sultan Selim, which led to the close of the 
jMameluke period, and the incorporation of Egypt 
iWith its dependencies in the Ottoman Empire. Kan- 
suh was charged by Selim with giving the right of 
way through Syria to the envoys of the Safawid 
Isma'il, whose destination was Venice, where they 
hoped to form a confederacy of west and east against 
the Turks. The actual déclaration of war was not 
made by Selim till May, 15 15, when ail his prépara- 
tions had been made; at the Battle of Marj Dabik, 
August 24, 15 16, Kansuh was defeated by the Otto- 
man forces, and fell fighting. His body was left on 
the battlefield and never was interred in his mauso- 
leum. His successor, Tumanbai, made a brave but 
useless résistance to the Ottomans, who now invaded 
Egypt. 

The Mameluke rule had at no time been identified 
with any national cause in Egypt, though the vie- 
tories of the first dynasty over the Crusaders had won 
for it the respect of the Moslems. The chroniclers 
do not wish us to suppose that the defeat of the Mame- 
luke by the Ottoman Sultan was regarded as a na- 
tional misfortune; indeed they suggest that the extor- 
tion and injustice which the last of the Mamelukes 
had organised, or at least countenanced, rendered 
the prospect of a change almost désirable. As has 
been seen, the Egyptians cared not at ail to which of 
the two powers they paid their taxes, their only 
anxiety was not to pay them twice. 

In his history of the Egyptian Révolution, Mr. A. 

[225] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

A. Paton produced a description of the court of 
Kansuh al-Ghuri given by a Venetian ambassador, 
who visited it in the year 1503. The Sultan had then 
been seated on the throne three years. " On reaching 
the foot of the castle they dismounted and ascended 
a staircase of about fifty steps, at the top of which 
they found a large iron door open, and within seated, 
the warder, dressed in white, with a muslin turban. 
On either side of him were perhaps 300 Mamelukes 
dressed in white, with long caps on their heads, half 
black and half green; they were ranged ail in line, 
so silent and respectful that they looked like observ- 
ant Franciscan friars. After entering this door they 
passed eleven other iron doors, between each of 
which there was a guard of eunuchs, black and white, 
three or four for each door, and ail of them seated 
with an air of marvellous pride and dignity. At 
each door upwards of one hundred Mamelukes stood 
respectful and silent. After passing the twelfth 
door, the ambassador and his suite were tired out, 
and had to sit down to rest themselves, the distance 
they had traversed being nearly a mile. They then 
entered the area or courtyard of the castle, which 
they judged to be six times the area of St. Mark's 
Square. On either side of this space 6000 Mame- 
lukes dressed in white and with green and black caps 
were drawn up; at the end of the court was a silken 
tent with a raised platform, covered with a carpet, on 
which was seated Sultan Kansuh al-Ghuri, his under- 
garment being white surmounted with dark green 
cloth, and the muslin turban on his head with three 

[226] 



LAST OF CIRCASSIAN MAMELUKES 

points or horns, and by his side was the naked 
scimitar." The Ambassador observed of Cairo it- 
self, " In the first place it is so peopled that one can- 
not judge of the amount of its population, and one 
can scarcely make way through the streets ; there are 
very large mosques in great number, very excellent 
houses and palaces, handsomer within than without, 
and the streets are straight and wide (straight they 
certainly were, but their width must hâve been 
judged by a Venetian standard) ; living is dear; there 
is much populace and a few men of account. The 
Mamelukes are in fact the masters." 



[227] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

Vâ^^^HE Ottoman army, though they had cîr- 
m C^\ cumvented Tumanbai, did not take the 
^L 3 metropolis without a severe struggle, in 
^^^^ which large parts of Cairo underwent seri- 
ons damage. For four days the inhabitants main- 
tained the unequal conflict, and contested with the 
Ottomans every inch of ground; 10,000 of them are 
said in that period to hâve lost their lives. A rigid 
search was then made by the conquerors for such of 
the Mamelukes as were concealed in the houses, and 
as many as were taken were killed. For eight months 
the Sultan Selim remained in Egypt, arranging the 
future government of the country; when he left for 
Constantinople he took away with him numerous 
artisans and various persons of importance, and, most 
important of ail, the Caliph who had accompanied 
the unfortunate Sultan Ghuri on his last expédition. 
By a satisfactory arrangement the Caliph was in- 
duced to resign his rights as spiritual chief of the 
Moslems to the Ottoman Sultan; and those who hold 
that such transference was within the rights of the 
last of the Abbasids recognise the Sultan of Turkey 
as the Successor of the Prophet. 

[228] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

The taking of Egypt by the Ottomans, however, 
deprived Cairo of its status as an impérial city, and 
as bas been seen, one of the fîrst acts of the new ruler 
was to transfer to bis own capital some of the beauti- 
ful marbles which had adorned the Citadel, where it 
was not now désirable that the Governor's Palace 
should be too luxurious. With the vast numbers of 
religions and philanthropie institutions in Cairo it 
was not bis intention to tamper. 

The administration of the new province of the 
Ottoman Empire had for its aim the suppression of 
any forces that might make for independence. Three 
powers were, therefore, created, whose mutual jeal- 
ousies might serve as a safeguard to the sovereign 
State. Thèse powers were the Pasha, or governor, 
sent from Constantinople, and often recalled after a 
few years, or even months: an army of occupation 
divided into six régiments under a commander who 
was to réside in the Citadel, and leave it under no 
pretext whatever, while to each régiment six officers 
with différent duties were assigned. Thèse officers 
together formed the governor's council, and had the 
right to veto bis orders. The third power was the 
Mamelukes, who provided the Beys or heads of the 
twelve provinces or Sanjaks into which Egypt was 
divided. The Sultan who succeeded Selim, Sulai- 
man, and who reigned forty-two years, further cre- 
ated two Chambers, called respectively the Greater 
and the Lesser Diwan; of thèse the former sat on 
important occasions, the latter daily. The members 
of the former were partly military, partly ecclesîas- 

[ 229 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

tical officiais, while the religious officers of Islam 
were not représentée! on the latter. The control of 
both extended to various departments of internai ad- 
ministration. This Sultan also added a seventh régi- 
ment to the existing six, in which the Mameluke 
freedmen were enroUed. The total numbers of the 
army of occupation thus came to about 20,000. Be- 
sides the title Pasha which the Turkish conquest in- 
troduced into Egypt there are a variety of others that 
meet us first f rom this time. Such is Agha, the name 
for the commander of the forces, or of the separate 
régiments; Ketkhuda or Kehya, the Pasha's deputy, 
used also as the title of an officiai attached to each 
régiment: Bey and Efendi; most of thèse had at the 
first spécial applications, which in the course of time 
they lost, degrading into a mère hierarchy of titles. 

The first governor appointed in Egypt by the Otto- 
man Sultan was Khair Bey, the man who is supposed 
to hâve betrayed the cause of his master Ghuri, who 
when he reached Syria in his campaign against the 
Ottomans was repeatedly warned against this lieu- 
tenant, but was afraid of causing open division in 
his force if he showed his suspicions openly. Having 
to command one of the divisions of the Egyptian 
Army in the battle of Marj Dabik, he is supposed to 
hâve, by preconcerted arrangement with the enemy, 
made his men leave the field, a proceeding which, of 
course, led to a gênerai rout. His government lasted 
rather more than five years, and owing to his unpopu- 
larity with his Moslem subjects, he espoused the 
[cause of the Jews and Christians. He is celebrated 

[230] 




MOSQUES IX THE SHARIA BAB-EL-U AZIR. CAIRO. 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

for a deathbed repentance. When he despaired of 
life he liberated ail except criminals who were 
pining in the dungeons of Cairo, and caused quanti- 
ties both of goods and coin to be distributed among 
the indigent and those who were dépendent on the 
religious institutions of the capital. His mosque is 
close to that of Ibrahim Agha in the quarter called 
after him Kharbakiyyeh, and it is there that he lies. 

His successor Mustafa, the Sultan Selim's son-in- 
law, was the fîrst of the governor's of Egypt who had 
the title Pasha (pronounced in Egypt Basha). The 
contemporary historian gives a rather humorous ac- 
count of his arrivai, and receiving deputations lying 
on his back, and through his ignorance of the na- 
tional language looking as though he were made of 
wood. 

The need for provision against attempts on the 
part of governors to render themselves independent 
of the Porte was shown very soon after the conquest; 
the third of the governors sent, Ahmad Pasha, made 
such an endeavour, and went so far as to assume the 
insignia of sovereignty in the East, having his name 
mentioned in public prayers, and having coins 
struck in his name — and indeed the right to an inde- 
pendent coinage had been left to Egypt by the Otto- 
man conqueror. The safeguards which had been de- 
vised were found to work efïectually; two émirs 
whom Ahmad had imprisoned broke from their con- 
finement, and attacked the ambitious Pasha in his 
bath. Though he escaped their onslaught and got 
away, he was presently captured, and his head, after^ 

[233] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

being suspended on Bad Zuwailah, was sent to Con- 
stantinople. 

The history of Egypt during the first century of 
Ottoman rule has little interest even for Egyptians. 
It consists of a séries of governors, sometimes no 
sooner appointed than recalled, of whom a few built 
schools or mosques in the style of the old Mameluke 
Sultans, while most spent their time, as might be 
expected, in profiting as well as they could by their 
opportunity of acquiring wealth. Of governors who 
perpetuated their names by monuments we may es- 
pecially mention Sinan Pasha, who governed from 
1567 to 1571, with an interval, and Masih Pasha, 
governor from 1575 to 1580. The name of Sinan 
Pasha is otherwise famous in Turkish history for his 
wars in North Africa. He founded a mosque with 
its ordinary accompaniments in Boulak, and the deed 
of settlement contains the elaborate provisions for its 
maintenance to which we are accustomed. The con- 
trol of the funds was to lapse after his death to the 
Sheik of Islam or highest ecclesiastical authority 
in Constantinople, who was to appoint a suitable 
agent in Egypt. 

Masih Pasha left a monument in the Masihî 
Mosque in the street called after his name, east of the 
Bab al-Karafah. It is called after Nur al-din al- 
Karafi, a learned man of the time, for whose dévo- 
tions and perhaps lectures it was built, and in it he, 
and perhaps the founder, hâve their last resting 
place. Masih Pasha is commended by the chron- 
iclers for having restored peace to Cairo with se- 

[234] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

curity for life and property, and for having ordered 
ail his rescripts to be prefaced with some pious senti- 
ments out of the Koran. His methods of restoring 
order were apparently drastic in the extrême, as they 
are said to hâve involved the exécution of some 
(10,000 persons. 

For varions reasons the Ottoman PasHa exhibited 
the tendency which the nominal head of the state or 
province so often displayed in the East, that of ceas- 
ing to be virtually at the head of afïairs. The char- 
acter of the army of occupation enabled it to dispose 
of the Pasha as it wished, and get rid of him by vio- 
lence if his measures were displeasing to it. When 
the Pasha took the part of the people of Egypt, and 
wished to relieve them of onerous exactions by which 
the army profited, he had the army against him. One 
of thèse Pashas had to face an organised revolt, of 
which the leaders had even chosen a sovereign to 
supersede him. With the aid of some troops that re- 
mained faithful, and the guns at his disposai he suc- 
ceeded in quelling it. Large numbers of the disaf- 
fected were then banished to Yemen, while some 
seventy were executed. And in the troubles over the 
succession at Constantinople, which followed on the 
decease of the Sultan Ahmad I., the Egyptian forces 
could defy the Porte and choose their own governor 
in opposition to the sovereign's views. This gover- 
nor, Mustafa Pasha, used the opportunity of a terri- 
ble pestilence which devastated the country in 1625 
to déclare himself heir to ail property left by its 
victims. The feeling which he roused against him- 

[235] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

self by this proceeding led to his downfall, and the 
Porte had no difficulty in recalling him. His suc- 
cessor compelled him to disgorge his plunder, and 
he himself was executed in Constantinople. 

The process by which there came to be substituted 
for the influence of the Pasha that of the chief of 
the Mamelukes, called Sheik al-Balad (something 
like Mayor of the City), is not easy to follow. It 
would seem that the perpétuai changes at headquar- 
ters and the disputes between the governor and the 
army left a bureaucracy the chance of gaining or 
regaining power, by the possession of hereditary 
acquaintance with the afifairs of the country which 
the strangers sent from Constantinople did not pos- 
sess, and also by the bureaucrats being identified in 
their interests with a permanent part of the popula- 
tion. What is clear is that the practice of Mameluke 
times, the acquisition by wealthy persons of Circas- 
sian, Turkish and other slaves, whom they trained 
in arms and whom they could promote to places of 
wealth, did not cease with the Turkish occupation, 
and that the Mamelukes remained a power in the 
country through the whole of this period. By the 
end of the seventeenth century the Sheik al-Balad 
becomes an officiai of fîrst-class importance. When 
a governor was sent from Constantinople, the Sheik 
and his associâtes would despatch a deputation to 
Alexandria to inquire into his intentions. If they 
found him likely to be a peaceful nonentity, they 
would condescend to give him an officiai welcome, 
whereas if he seemed likely to assert himself they 

[236] 




A SIDE STREET IN CAIRO. 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

would bid him remain where he was, while sending 
word to Constantinople that the governor appointed 
was unfit for the post and that his arrîval would be 
injurious to the welfare of the community. The 
army of occupation appears to hâve been perma- 
nently quartered in the capital and so to hâve gradu- 
ally transferred its allegiance to the permanent Emirs. 
By the early eighteenth century the Mamelukes are 
themselves divided into factions, named respectively 
the Kasimites and Fijarites, whose origin is mysteri- 
ous, but may go back to the time of the conqueror 
Selim, or be much later. Nothing appears to be 
heard of the rivalry between thèse factions till the 
year 1707, when Hasan Pasha, one of the ephemeral 
governors, set himself to create bad blood between 
the two with so much success that a battle was fought 
lasting eighty days. The Mamelukes had, it is said, 
the considération to go outside Cairo and carry on 
the fight in the daytime, without interfering with the 
business of the inhabitants ; at night they, or such of 
them as survived the fray, went home and reposed 
like ordinary citizens. In this prolonged battle, the 
Sheik al-Balad Kasim lywaz perished. He was 
succeeded in his municipal office by his son Isma'il 
Bey, who was fortunate enough to be able to recon- 
cile the contending parties for the time. How much 
more influential the Sheik al-Balad was now than 
the governor is shown by a story in which Isma'il 
compels the latter to restore a quantity of cofïee 
which was in the possession of a man whose exécu- 
tion had been ordered from Constantinople. He 

[239] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

held the office sixteen years, when his end was 
brought on by a concession to one of his faction, the 
Kasimites, who desired to seize an estate belonging 
to a Fikarite. The Fikarite complained to the 
Pasha, who could only suggest to him that he had 
best get an assassin to put an end to Isma'il. This 
suggestion was successfully executed, and the con- 
fusion which arose gave the Pasha opportunity to 
organise a gênerai massacre of Isma'iPs followers 
and to assign his place to the head of a rival faction 
named Shirkas Bey. 

It illustrâtes the condition of Egypt at this time 
that the assassin, on whom the wealth of his victim 
had been bestowed as a reward, was in a position to 
purchase and train a force of Mamelukes, with whose 
aid he was able to eject Shirkas Bey, the Sheik 
al-Balad, and install himself in the vacant place, 
when he proceeded to exécute numerous Beys, with 
the idea of founding a tyranny. The expelled 
Shirkas Bey was repeatedly invited by the discon- 
tented to unseat the usurper, but failed and was 
finally defeated and drowned; while the assassin 
(named Dhu'l-Fikar) himself presently fell a victim 
to an onslaught similar to that which had been the 
foundation of his fortunes. His lieutenant, Othman 
Bey, avenged his death by numerous exécutions, and 
succeeded in obtaining the place of Sheik al-Balad, 
though one of his rivais attempted the familiar strat- 
agem of preparing a banquet which was to be fol- 
lowed by the massacre of Othman and his party, who 
had been invited to it; Othman had, however, taken 

[240] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

précautions, and his rival fled to Constantinople after 
seeing his helpers' heads lying severed outside the 
Hasanain Mosque. 

Othman Bey is the hero of various stories showing 
that he left on the people of Cairo a favourable im- 
pression of his justice and courage. The former 
quality is illustrated by an anecdote recorded by 
by Zaidan. A donkey-boy (the word " boy" in this 
context implies nothing as to âge) found in hishouse 
some treasure, which he put in his wife's charge, 
telling her to conceal the find, lest the government 
shouM claim it as treasure trove. This she consented 
to do; but when her husband refused to buy her 
some ornaments with the wealth now at his disposai, 
she betrayed the discovery to Othman Bey. The 
donkey-boy was summoned before the Sheik al- 
Balad, who to his surprise bade him retain the treas- 
ure, but divorce his v^ife. 

A fresh couple of names that meet us in Egyptian 
politics of this period is that of the Kazdoglu and the 
Julfi Mamelukes. The founder of the first faction 
was a saddler by profession; the eponymous hero of 
the latter was a porter, who became possessed of a 
secret hoard. The heads of thèse factions, named 
Ibrahim and Ridwan respectively, formed in Oth- 
man Bey's time a close alliance, and by their united 
wealth won such influence that they were in a posi- 
tion to challenge Othman Bey's supremacy. The 
latter endeavoured to form a counter-alliance of in- 
fluential Beys, who advised the assassination of Ibra- 
him, at that time Ketkhuda of the Janissary régiment. 

[241] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

The plot was betrayed by an officiai in the Household 
of Othman Bey, who, fearing reprisais, fled to Syria, 
leaving Cairo clear to the hostile factions. The lead- 
ers of thèse, having possessed themselves of Othman's 
house and efïects, proceeded to organise a massacre 
of his supporters. Thèse were lured into the Citadel, 
the gâtes closed on them, and firing upon them or- 
dered. The Pasha's consent had been obtained for 
this proceeding, which he would probably hâve been 
unable to prevent. When it was over, the govern- 
ment remained in the hands of Ibrahim Bey and 
Isma'il Bey, who agreed to take the offices of Sheik 
al-Balad and Leader of the Pilgrim Caravan, and 
hold them in alternate years; a curions form of dual 
sovereignty which was successfully imitated at a 
later period. The former, who was the more ener- 
getic of the two, immediately set about recouping 
himself for the money expended in the attainment of 
his ambition, by a séries of violent extortions, prac- 
tised on ail in Cairo who were supposed to be pos- 
sessed of means. An attempt was made to overthrow 
the two Consuls by one of the ephemeral Pashas. 
Ibrahim's absence on pilgrimage ofïered a good op- 
porJiunity for devising a plot, and in fact after Ibra- 
him's return he and his colleague were actually 
seized and imprisoned. Their supporters, however, 
came to the rescue, broke open their prison, and 
drove the refractory Pasha back to Constantinople. 

The new Pasha came with instructions to gain the 
confidence of the Beys, with a view to getting them 
at some time into his power, and restoring the efiec- 

[242] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

tîve control of the Porte by a massacre. But Ibrahim 
Bey was wary, and though the coup was not at- 
tempted till the new governor had been in ofBce two 
years, it only partially succeeded; Ibrahim Bey him- 
self escaped, and only three of his adhérents were 
killed. The Sheik al-Balad thereupon took it upon 
himself to dépose the Governor, and sent to Constan- 
tinople requesting that he be replaced. Into one of 
the vacant Beyships he promoted Ali, known as Ali 
Bey the Great, destined to play a somewhat impor- 
tant part in the history of Egypt; he was a freedman 
of Ibrahim, who had won his esteem by fîghting and 
defeating a gang of brigands who attacked the Pil- 
grim Caravan. It will be remembered that Ahmad 
Ibn Tulun won his spurs by a not very dissimilar 
exploit. 

The promotion of Ali Bey evoked the jealousy of 
another follower of Ibrahim Bey, called Ibrahim the 
Circassian, who presently gave vent to his resentment 
by murdering his master; whose office fell to his col- 
league Ridwan, who had maintained friendly rela- 
tions with Ibrahim Bey ail along. But another fol- 
lower of Ibrahim Bey who himself aspired to the 
headship was able to direct the guns of the Citadel 
at the palace of Ridwan overlooking the Elephant's 
Pool, and in the course of the bombardment to inflict 
a wound on Ridwan himself of which he shortly 
after died. His murderer, however, soon succumbed 
to the resentment of Ridwan's friends, and a certain 
Khalil Bey became Sheik al-Balad. 

For eight years Ali Bey kept pursuing the plan by 

[243] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

which the sovereignty of Egypt had been so often 
acquired, that of purchasing slaves and training 
them as a bodyguard, while doing his utmost to con- 
ciliate the other Beys. Finally hîs proceedings 
aroused the suspicions of the Sheik al-Balad, who 
endeavoured to get rid of hîm by an open assault. 
Ali Bey's bodyguard defended their master, but were 
defeated and compelled to flee to Upper Egypt; his 
office and those of his adhérents were declared for- 
feited, and many persons known to belong to his 
party executed. In Upper Egypt Ali Bey found 
other malcontents, who, joinîng his bodyguard, made 
up an army large enough to warrant an attack on 
Cairo, which he did not hesitate to exécute. In a 
séries of successful engagements Ali Bey drove his 
rival northwards, and finally obtained possession of 
his person. Khalil Bey was first banished, and then 
executed. Ali Bey remained suprême in Egypt, and 
in 1763 was installed Sheik al-Balad. 

Shortly after his appointment he ordered the exé- 
cution of the murderer of his former master Ibrahim 
Bey, an act which was so ill received by the other 
Beys that Ali Bey had to flee from Egypt to Jéru- 
salem and then Acre. At the latter place he suc- 
ceeded in winning the favour and affection of the 
commander of the garrison, who obtained from Con- 
stantinople confirmation of his appointment as 
Sheik al-Balad at Cairo, whither he proceeded to 
return. 

Ali Bey appears to hâve possessed the qualities 
which appertained to most of the great founders of 

[244] 




A SIKHKT SCENK IN CAIKO 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

dynasties in Egypt — astuteness, courage and ruthless- 
ness. Jazzar, who as governor of Acre acquired a 
European réputation for the last of thèse qualities, 
began his career as one of his lieutenants, sent out by 
him to quell a rébellion in the southern provinces 
of Egypt. Ali elevated eighteen persons to the rank 
of Bey, hoping thereby to provide himself with faith- 
ful and powerful supporters, since each of them com- 
manded some sort of force. Thèse were, as usual, 
Circassians or Georgians. His ultimate aim w^s to 
render Egypt independent of the Sublime Porte, be- 
ing herein as in much else the precursor of Moham- 
med Ali. With this view he endeavoured to oust on 
one pretext or another ail the nominees of the Porte 
from their places in the Egyptian army, and to fiU 
the vacancies with créatures of his own. A much 
more momentous step, and one w^hich must surely 
bave been attempted before, w^as to monopolise the 
right to purchase and train Mamelukes, and so to pre- 
vent possible rivais arising in Cairo itself. 

When in 1768 war broke out between Turkey and 
Russia Egypt was ordered to provide 12,000 men 
for the Porte. Ali Bey began to draft them, but it 
was uncertain whether he intended them to aid the 
Sultan or the Czar. Every provincial governor 
from the commencement of the Caliphate had found 
it necessary to maintain spies at the metropolis, and 
those kept by Ali Bey at Constantinople informed 
him on this occasion that despatches were being sent 
to the Pasha at Cairo to put Ali Bey to death. The 
Sheik al-Balad was ready for the emergency; he 

[247] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

had the envoys waylaid and killed, and their bodies 
buried in the sand, while he himself secured the de- 
spatches, of which he published an account suitable 
to his purpose. He averred that what was ordered 
from Constantinople was a gênerai massacre of the 
Mamelukes, and urged his colleagues to fight for 
their lives. In a powerful oration he reminded them 
of the old glories of the Mameluke Sultans, of whose 
monuments Cairo was full. The time had now ar- 
rived to revive the old Mameluke Sultanate, and free 
Egypt from the Ottoman yoke. His speech carried 
conviction, and his project was approved. The 
Pasha was given forty-eight hours to leave the coun- 
try. Ali Bey's old friend the governor of Acre 
promised his warm support to the Sheik al-Balad's 
plans, and an attempt made by the governor of Da- 
mascus to reduce him to order was defeated with loss. 

The Porte being unable owing to the European 
war to attend to remote provinces, Ali Bey proceeded 
to consolidate his power in Egypt, and sent a force 
to reduce Arabia. Success attended his efforts in 
the peninsula, and he further despatched his son-in- 
law and favourite Abu'l-Dhahab, with a force 
of 30,000 men to reduce Syria, and hère too his 
arms were successful. Abu'l-Dhahab, whose name 
" f ather of gold " was earned, it is said, by his habit 
of giving ail his charity in that métal, met with little 
résistance. 

But now the fîckie goddess began to assert her 
character. The Syrian lieutenant, who on a former 
occasion had been concerned in a plot against Ali 

1 248 ] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

Bey, în which his part had been condoned in con- 
sidération of his betraying his fellow-conspirators, 
preferred to conquer for himself rather than for his 
master; and, apparently, entered into an arrange- 
ment with the Porte by which he was to hâve under 
Turkish suzerainty the reversion of Ali Bey's posses- 
sions, if he succeeded in overthrowing that usurper. 
With the troops employed by him in Syria he crossed 
to Egypt, where, avoiding Cairo, he made for South- 
ern Egypt, and seized Asiout. Ali, being quite un- 
able to défend his capital, fled once more to his bene- 
factor, the governor of Acre, foUowed by an insig- 
nifîcant number of adhérents. At the time when he 
raised the standard of revolt from the Porte he had 
endeavoured to enter into alliance with Venice and 
Russia, and his negotiations had met with fair suc- 
cess. Such a measure was at that time risky for any- 
one who depended on the favour of a Moslem nation, 
since alliance with Infîdels against Believers is not 
only liable to denunciation as being in défiance of 
the doctrines of the Koran, but could be shown his- 
torically to be disastrous. However, at Acre Ali 
Bey enjoyed the fruits of his Russian policy, as a 
Muscovite fleet which happened to be there renewed 
the alliance with the refugee, and encouraged him to 
retake the Syrian cities which, after the departure 
of Abu'l-Dhahab, had fallen back into Ottoman 
possession; and about a year after his flight messages 
came from Cairo requesting his return to Egypt, to 
put a stop to the arbitrary régime introduced by 
Abu'l-Dhahab, who had assumed the title Sheik al- 

[249] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Balad, and was rendering himself unpopular by 
coercive measures. 

Ali Bey thereupon decîded to march into Egypt 
with a motley force of eight thousand men, and in 
an engagement with his rival at Salihiyyah scored a 
slight success. But his alliance with Christian 
powers against the Turks had brought his cause into 
disrepute with the Moslems of Egypt, and he learned 
that he could count on no effective aid f rom his par- 
tisans in Cario; illness and wounds, moreover, pre- 
vented his taking an active part in the management 
of his afïairs. Abu'l-Dhahab, besides, exhibited far 
more skill than Ali Bey in winning over adhérents 
from the opposite party by varions modes of corrup- 
tion. In a foUowing engagement many of Ali Bey's 
soldiers and captains left him for the enemy, and 
those that remained faithful fled in confusion. Ali 
had not himself, owing to illness, been able to take 
part in the battle, and his routed foUowers desired 
him to mount a horse as well as he could, and once 
more seek refuge at Acre. He determined that death 
was préférable to this humiliation, and waited by his 
tent until a detachment of the enemy came up to it; 
with thèse he fought bravely till disabled by shots 
and thrusts. He was finally taken and conveyed to 
his house in Cairo " in the Abd al-Hakk Lane, al- 
Bakir Street, behind the Debt Chest,'' where he was 
not molested ; but he died af ter seven days, of wounds 
and chagrin. 

The Egyptian chroniclers give Ali Bey the title 
" the Great," which is perhaps more than he de- 

[250] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

served, since his enterprise left no permanent mark 
on the fortunes of Egypt. He, apparently, was less 
to blâme than some other conquerors of that country 
for risking ail in the attempt to acquire possession of 
Syria, since his obligations to the governor of Acre 
forced this upon him. He appears to hâve made un- 
pardonable mistakes in the choice of instruments. 
He was for a time popular in Egypt because he en- 
deavoured to check varions forms of extortion which 
had been long exercised; but it is observable that his 
cry was not Egypt for the Egyptians, but Egypt for 
the Mamelukes. 

During the period covered by Othman Bey and 
Ali Bey vast restorations were carried out in the 
buildings of Cairo by a man whose name has already 
met us in connection with them, Abd al-Rahman 
Ketkhuda. His father was patron of a certain Oth- 
man Ketkhuda, who in this office had acquired great 
wealth, which some time after the latter's death was 
assigned to his patron's son in virtue of a theory that 
the property of freedmen goes to those who hâve 
manumitted them, in default of other heirs. Abd 
al-Rahman further attracted the notice of Othman 
Bey, with whom he went on pilgrimage, and by 
whom on their return to Cairo he was made admin- 
istrator of trusts. He utilised the funds at his dis- 
posai for a gênerai restoration of the religions insti- 
tutions of Cairo, as well as the érection of a variety 
of monuments which were to perpetuate his own 
name. His work of rénovation extended to ail the 
sanctuaries which bear the names of famous ladies 

[251] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of the Prophet's house. Eighteen mosques were 
either built or repaired by him, ail thèse being places 
of public worship; the smaller sanctuaries which he 
restored were still more numerous, and he also saw 
to the érection of numerous cisterns, fountains, 
bridges and other engineering works. His usefui 
labours were continued till 1764, when Ali Bey was 
in power, who, fearing the influence he had acquired, 
banished him to the Hejaz. Twelve years later, 
when the days of Ali Bey were over, he was recalled 
to Cairo, only to die. He was buried in a mauso- 
leum that he had prepared for himself in his addi- 
tions to al-Azhar. His personal character appears 
to hâve displayed more piety than virtue, since he is 
credited with having introduced bribery and corrup- 
tion on an unprecedented scale — a difficult achieve- 
ment in Egypt. 

Abu'l-Dhahab was rewarded by the Porte în 1772 
for his services in suppressing Ali Bey, with the title 
Pasha and the officiai governorship of Cairo. He 
did not enjoy his honours long, for he died — it is un- 
certain how — two years later on his successful ex- 
pédition for the recovery of Syria. After some 
disorders two of the Beys created by Ali, who had 
afterwards deserted his cause for that of his rival, 
persons named Ibrahim and Murad respectively, got 
possession of the Citadel, and agreed on a divided 
rule similar to that which had been arranged between 
a former Ibrahim and Ridwan, the one to fîU the 
office of Sheik al-Balad, the other to be Leader of 
the Pilgrim Caravan. The arrangement was at the 

[252] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

first marred by broils, and even armed conflicts, but 
presently the two found themselves able to work har- 
moniously, and their government, with an interrup- 
tion, lasted on till the French invasion of Egypt. 
This interruption was occasioned by an expédition 
sent from Constantinople to restore order in Egypt. 
The épisode of Ali Bey showed that the assertion of 
Ottoman sovereignty was necessary, and indeed, for 
a long time the officiai représentative of the Sultan 
had been treated with scant courtesy. When the 
Sheik al-Balad and his Emirs wanted a Pasha re- 
moved, they sent to Constantinople to request his 
removal. An emissary would then be despatched, 
who would be introduced to the Citadel, where he 
would kneel before the Pasha. On rising he would 
fold up the carpet on which he had knelt, and cry 
aloud, Pasha, descend! The Pasha would thereby 
be deprived of his office, and the emissary would take 
temporary charge. 

In June, 1786, the Turkish expédition arrived in 
Egypt, and the Mamelukes found themselves unable 
to make any résistance to the artillery of the Otto- 
mans. Ibrahim and Murad fled before the invaders 
to Upper Egypt, and Cairo was seized by the Turk- 
ish troops. Their treatment of the population was 
no improvement on that of the Beys, and only the 
interférence of the ecclesiastical authorities pre- 
vented atrocities which went beyond what the people 
of Egypt were accustomed to. No great change was 
made in the System of government by the conquerors, 
who installed as Sheik al-Balad Isma'il Bey, a 

[253] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

former supporter of Ali Bey, who had even held the 
office for a short time after the death of Abu'l- 
Dhahab. When, in 1790, he and most of his family 
were swept ofï by a plague, Murad and Ibrahim hav- 
ing had expérience of government, found it possible 
to return to Cairo and résume the offices which they 
had previously held. Of thèse they were in posses- 
sion when in 1798 Bonaparte invaded the country. 
\ Murad Bey carried on some opérations ostensibly 
for the restoration of the Mosque of Amr, but really, 
it is said, in order to discover an iron chest which the 
Jews knew to be hidden somewhere about the 
Mosque, and the secret of whose existence they had 
sold to Murad as the price of his remitting an ex- 
traordinary contribution which he had imposed on 
their community. The chest was discovered, but 
found to contain only leaves from an ancient copy of 
the Koran. Murad Bey's piety was not sufficient to 
make him consider this find a substitute for the treas- 
ure which he had expected, and the Jews got barder 
terms than if they had consented to the imposition 
at the fîrst. 

The Turkish period was on the whole of little 
importance for the décoration or growth of Cairo, 
though, as has been seen, some Pashas and others 
went to the expense of erecting mosques, and many a 
palace was built by the wealthy Mamelukes. Writers 
on Arab art usually stop at the taking of Cairo by 
the Ottomans, because the architecture of Egypt 
from that time becomes more and more dépendent 
on Turkish models. 

[254] 



THE TURKISH PERIOD 

Many European travellers vîsited Cairo between 
the entry of Selim and that of Bonaparte, and some 
sélections from their expériences are put together by 
Mr. W. F. Rae, in his work called " Egypt To-day: 
the First to the Third Khédive." Thèse extracts deal 
chiefly with the condition of foreigners in Cairo, 
which is painted in very dark colours. The mass 
of the people, we are told, in no place could be more 
barbarous than in Cairo; foreigners, persecuted and 
even ill-treated under the most frivolous pretexts, 
lived there in perpétuai fear. If they ventured to 
appear in public in the attire of their own country, 
they would be infallibly torn in pièces. Bruce, who 
visited Cairo in 1748, asserts that a more brutal, un- 
just, tyrannical, oppressive, avaricious set of infernal 
miscreants there v^as not on earth than the members 
of the Government of Cairo. Of the streets it was 
asserted that the widest would be looked upon as a 
lane in Europe. Hasselquist, in a letter to Linné, 
dated 1750 from Cairo, said that if a man were guilty 
of any crime he could not expiate it better than by 
going to réside for a little while in that city. 



C 255 ] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

V^^^^HE sufïerings of the French merchants 
M C| résident in Cairo would hâve been a suffi- 
^L^^^ cient justification for the enterprise of 
^^^ Bonaparte, but its object was undoubtedly 
to strike a blow at Great Britain, and the latter coun- 
try endeavoured to stop it at the outset, and succeeded 
in crippling it and eventually bringing it to a disas- 
trous termination. On the history of the French oc- 
cupation of Egypt, which has often been described, 
we need not dilate hère; the Beys were as much put 
eut of their reckoning by the tactics of the greatest 
gênerai of the âge as the Sultan Ghuri had been put 
out of his by the artillery of the Sultan Selim. The 
capture of the Egyptian capital caused the plunder 
of many houses by the invaders and the mob, and 
besides meant the desecration of numerous religious 
édifices which were required for the French System 
of fortification. After the naval engagement of Abu 
iKir had resulted in the annihilation of the French 
fleet, the people of Cairo rose against the invader and 
barricaded the streets. Bonaparte planted artillery 
on ail high points, partly destroyed the Husainiyyah 

[256] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

quarter where the fiercest résistance had been made, 
and occupied al-Azhar, which had been the head- 
quarters of disafïection, with a force. Cavalry 
stabled their horses in the great home of Moslem 
learning, smashed the coloured lamps and tried to 
erase the verses of the Koran with which the walls 
were decorated. Only after complète submission on 
the part of the insurgents, and the intercession of the 
most esteemed sheik, did the French gênerai agrée 
to withdraw his soldiery from the Mosque. 

Short as was the French occupation of Cairo, it 
marked the introduction of European methods into 
the government of the city, which it was left to the 
Khedivial f amily to carry out. The gâtes which had 
formerly closed the streets and lanes were ail re- 
moved by order of the French commander; the prac- 
tice of lighting the streets at nights was introduced, 
and for administrative purposes the city was divided 
into eight quarters (or rather eighths), each under 
the supervision of a sheik. To the French are due 
the registration of births and deaths, the abolition of 
intramural interment and some other précautions of 
sanitation. An honourable monument of the French 
occupation is the great ^^ Description of Egypt," 
well worthy of the keen interest in science and archae- 
ology which characterises the people from whom it 
emanated. 

Whether the programme of the French occupation 
was in itself consistent and intelligible to the Egyp- 
tian people is not very clear, but it may be considered 
to hâve first formulated the Egyptian nationalist as- 

[259] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

pirations, though the French may hâve donc little to 
gratify them. Ostensibly the invaders wished to 
abolish the tyranny of the Mamelukes, who are at- 
tacked in their manifestoes in violent terms; and 
though the Egyptians at first supposed that the pur- 
pose of the invasion was to reclaim the country for 
the Sultan, it was soon shown that this view deviated 
widely from the facts. To Bonaparte's profession of 
belief in Islam apparently no importance was at- 
tached by the real adhérents of that religion. The 
Turkish manifesto which declared the old faiths of 
Europe to be far nearer Islam than the religion of 
the French Révolution was undoubtedly in accord- 
ance with the facts. Most writers are agreed in 
regarding thèse professions of Mohammedanism as 
a mistaken policy. The French occupation, how- 
ever, while it may be doubted w^hether the moral and 
political standards which the invaders exhibited were 
a very great improvement on those to which the 
Egyptians are accustomed, prepared the country 
for that discipleship to Europe which it underwent 
for the greater part of the nineteenth century and is 
still undergoing. Other invaders were no further ad- 
vanced than the Egyptians in science and culture; 
from the French the inhabitants learned that in such 
matters they were far behind. The respect for the 
ability of the European, which is now so often ex- 
aggerated in the East, begins in Egypt with the 
French occupation. And the cry of " Liberty, 
Equality and Fraternîty," which perhaps had never 
been heard in the East before, at least with any prac- 

[260] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

tical meaning attached to it, could not fail to rouse 
an écho hère and there in a population that had been 
accustomed f rom time immémorial to despotism, and 
for centuries to the despotism of foreigners. 

Like Ali Bey, Bonaparte regarded the possession 
of Syria as necessary to the security of Egypt, and in 
February, 1799, he started on a career of conquest in 
the former country, which terminated with the well- 
known check at Acre, occasioned by the co-operation 
of the British fleet under Sir Sidney Smith with the 
Turkish troops. Bonaparte on his return had to 
satisfy himself with fortifying al-Arish, the key of 
Egypt, in lieu of the possession of Syria, but the faii- 
ure of his original scheme was doubtless the cause of 
his évacuation of the valley of the Nile. Murad Bey 
and Ibrahim Bey, who had been in retreat in Upper 
Egypt, were emboldened by the defeat of Bonaparte 
to proceed southwards, hoping to co-operate with a 
Turkish force that was to land at Abu Kir. Bona- 
parte had, however, no difficulty in defeating the 
Beys, and afterwards inflicting a crushing blow on 
the Turks at the moment of their disembarking. But 
from the English squadron at Abu Kir he learned 
news of European afïairs which determined him to 
quit Egypt, and his departure sealed the future of 
the French occupation of the country. 

Kleber, whom Bonaparte had left to govern at 
Cairo, showed himself equal to dealing with a diffi- 
cult situation, and arranged by an honourable con- 
vention at the beginning of 1800 for the évacuation 
of the country; the rejoicings in Cairo over the pros- 

[261] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

pective departure of the French were great, and an 
enforced impost was cheerfully paid. The Mame- 
lukes whose houses had been pillaged and who had 
been compelled to conceal themselves, began to re- 
turn, hoping to enjoy a new lease of power; and one 
Nasif Pasha placed himself at their head. Mean- 
while through the intervention of Great Britain the 
convention was rendered inefifective; an Ottoman 
army after taking al-Arish, advanced towards Cairo, 
and at Matariyyah, north of the capital, an engage- 
ment took place in which the united forces of the 
Turks and Mamelukes were defeated by the French 
gênerai. Nasif Pasha, retreating from the battle- 
field, marched to Cairo with his Mamelukes, and suc- 
ceeded in rousing the Moslem population against the 
French, and even started a massacre of the Christian 
population both native and foreign. Nasif's attacks 
on the Citadel and the forts in the possession of the 
French were, however, unsuccessful, and in a bayonet 
charge of 200 French troops in the Ezbekiyyeh the 
superiority of European discipline asserted itself over 
the Mamelukes and their Cairene allies. The French 
continued to bombard the city from the Citadel and 
the forts, while batteries were erected by the in- 
surgents with cannon dug up out of places where 
they had been hidden. The streets were barricaded ; 
a powder f actory was improvised ; and every Moslem 
was compelled to pass the night in the discharge of 
some military duty. 

Before Nasif Pasha could renew his attack on the 
French headquarters, and when the insurrection had 

[262] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

lasted two whole days, a force arrived to relieve the 
French garrison, having been sent for that purpose 
by Kleber. The vigour and enthusiasm of the in- 
surgents and the able measures which they had taken 
for the defence of the streets rendered it difïîcult for 
the French relieving force to retake the city. And 
though Nasif Pasha, when Kleber himself arrived on 
the spot, was disposed to capitulate, the fanatical 
party prevented him f rom doing so. Kleber resolved 
to storm Boulak before attacking the city, and on 
April 14, 1800, carried out this project and gave up 
the place to pillage and conflagration. He imme- 
diately proceeded after this success to an attack upon 
the city itself, in which numerous houses w^ere burned 
down, especially in the région of the Ezbekiyyeh. 
Lighted torches were, it is said, flung right and left 
by the soldiers, with the object of destroying the 
w^hole city by conflagration ; and women and children 
flung themselves ofï walls and roofs to escape being 
burned. Nasif Pasha himself went into hiding. 

When at last résistance had ceased, Kleber ordered 
an amnesty to be proclaimed, and proceeded to hâve 
the streets cleared of débris and corpses, after which 
a three days' feast was announced in célébration of 
the victory. The arrest of fifteen sheiks and their 
subséquent release on payment of twelve millions of 
francs, was the only répressive measure which fol- 
lowed the retaking of Cairo. Orders were then 
issued to repair those parts of the city that had suf- 
fered during the insurrection. 

Two months after thèse successful opérations 

[263] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Kleber was assassinated at the house of General 
Damas in the Ezbekiyyeh; and the assassin when dis- 
covered was shown to hâve been instigated by a com- 
mander of Janissaries, and to hâve been in communi- 
cation with the sheiks of al-Azhar, three of whom 
were condemned to exécution as having been acces- 
sories before the fact. The assassin himself was 
impaled, public opinion in Europe at that time not 
sufficiently condemning the barbarous punishments 
in use in the East; the act, however, was rendered the 
more culpable, because it would appear that the man 
had been induced to confess on promise of a free 
pardon. 

Kleber's foUower, Menou, was an eccentric per- 
sonage, who adopted Islam, and tried in various other 
ways to conciliate the Cairene population, with whom 
he gained little favour, while losing his influence 
with the French. As an ardent convert he deprived 
the Egyptian Christians of the equality which under 
Bonaparte's régime they had shared with the Mos- 
lems. As an equally ardent Frenchman he declared 
Egypt a French colony, whereas till then the suze- 
rainty of the Porte had been nominally recognised. 
He had soon, however, to hâve his military skill put 
to the test, and this proved no greater than his admin- 
istrative ability. 

On March 21 there was fought the action in which 
Sir Ralph Abercrombie, having landed with a 
British force at Abu Kir, defeated the French army 
brought against him by Menou, at the cost of his own 
life. Four days later the English were reinforced 

[264] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

by a body of Turks, which proceeded to capture 
Rosetta. And another Turkish army was now on its 
way from Syria and was advancing towards Cairo. 
The defence of that city had been left to General 
Belliard, whom Menou, now shut up in Alexandria, 
had left in command, when he went north to meet 
Abercrombie. A junction having been efïected be- 
tween the English and Turkish armies, Cairo was 
invested; and the French commander not having 
sufîîcient troops to hope for victory over the allies, an 
armistice was agreed to on June 22, foUowed by a 
convention on June 26, by which Cairo was to be 
evacuated by the French troops, who were to pro- 
ceed to the coast and embark for France. The 
évacuation of Egypt was accomplished a few months 
later. 

This was the end of French domination in Egypt, 
and the commencement of the relations of Great Brit- 
ain with that country. At first the Mamelukes 
seemed to hâve their star in the ascendant. A con- 
tingent of Mamelukes had been with the force that 
compelled General Belliard to treat for the évacua- 
tion of Cairo, and Ibrahim Bey, emerging from his 
hiding place, had implored the assistance of the Eng- 
lish General, and been treated with respect. Murad 
Bey had succeeded in negotiating with Kleber before 
that General was assassinated and had by him been 
confirmed in the government of Upper Egypt. He 
died shortly before the évacuation. His dependents 
broke his arms over his hier, in token that no one was 
worthy to bear them after him. It was possible that 

[265] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the end of the foreign occupation might lead to a 
resumption of the old régime. Those, therefore, 
who aimed at ruling Egypt considered that the relies 
of the Mamelukes must before ail things be destroyed. 

The process was commenced by the agents of the 
Porte, and in the style familiar to readers of Moslem 
history. The Turkish Admirai at Abu Kir en- 
trapped a number of Beys into his barge by inviting 
them to a conférence, and this barge was presently 
surrounded and attacked; whereas a number more 
were bombarded at Gizeh without previous intima- 
tion of any différence. In spite of thèse disasters the 
country even before the final departure of the English 
fell back fast into Mameluke hands — little besides 
Alexandria and Cairo were virtually subject to the 
Porte, and the newly appointed Pasha was unable to 
procure the money to pay the troops who now oc- 
cupied the Citadel. 

The situation gave an opportunity to a man who 
proved himself well qualified to use it — Mohammed 
Ali, the founder of the dynasty that now reigns in 
Egypt; often called by anticipation the first Khédive, 
wrongly, inasmuch as that title was conferred first 
on Isma'il Pasha; yet not without ground, since the 
fortunes of the Khedivial family were made by the 
founder of the line. He comes to the front in history 
first as leader of a corps of Albanians in the Turkish 
force which soon after the arrivai of the English took 
Rosetta; his birthplace was Cavalla, where he lost 
his parents in infancy but received kindness f rom an 
uncle, and also f rom a French résident, a f act which 

[266] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

dîd much towards determining Mohammed Ali's 
Francophile policy at a later time. Like other rési- 
dents in Cavalla in his early years he traded in 
tobacco, with conspicuous success. Coming to Egypt 
with the Turkish force sent out for the recovery of 
the country, he advanced in the service by leaps and 
bounds, and was after a short time given command 
over a force of between three and four thousand Al- 
banians by Khosrau Pasha, a Georgian freedman 
of the Turkish Admirai, who at the latter's suggestion 
had been installed by the Porte in the government 
of Egypt. In the struggle that ensued on the one 
hand between the governor and his discontented 
soldiers, on the other, between the Turks and the 
Mamelukes, Mohammed Ali succeeded in at first 
holding the balance between the parties, and pres- 
ently found an opportunity for décisive action when 
Khosrau Pasha had been driven by a révolution in 
the Citadel to fly in the direction of Damietta, and 
another ephemeral rùler had been installed in Khos- 
rau's place. Mohammed Ali decided to join forces 
with the Mameluke leaders, Othman al-Bardisi and 
the vétéran Ibrahim Bey, took possession of the Cita- 
del, and drove out of it ail troops save his own Al- 
banians and those under the Mamelukes; he then 
proceeded in the direction of Damietta, where he 
compelled the Pasha to capitulate. At first, appar- 
ently, the old System was to be restored ; Bardisi, the 
Mameluke leader, was to be in a position similar to 
that held by the Sheik al-Balad, whether with or 
without the title, while the présence of a powerless 

[269] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

governor was to maintain the tradition of the Portées 
suzerainty. 

Soon, however, Mohammed Ali turned against 
Bardisi; his Albanian troops demanded arrears of 
pay, and threatened disturbances unless their de- 
mands were complied with. To meet them Bardisi 
imposed heavy contributions on the people of Cairo, 
which only aroused gênerai indignation. Finally, 
March 12, 1804, Mohammed Ali with his troops at- 
tacked Bardisi's palace, and having previously won 
over his artillerymen had little difficulty in driving 
him out of Cairo, when he was followed by Ibrahim 
Bey, who appears to hâve resumed his old place in 
the government of the city. The Cairenes sum- 
moned Khurshid Pasha, Governor of Alexandria, to 
undertake the government of Cairo, and he had a 
triumphal entry. He proved no more capable of 
dealing with the difficult situation than those who 
had preceded him, but saw the necessity of maintain- 
ing a force capable of counteracting that of Mo- 
hammed Ali, whose Albanians were greatly attached 
to his person, and to that end obtained a régiment of 
Moors, whom he introduced into the Citadel; Mo- 
hammed Ali, who was engaged at the time in reduc- 
ing Upper Egypt, returned to Cairo on hearing of 
this, and in May, 1805, received the appointment of 
Governor of Jeddah from the Porte. Before leav- 
ing for Arabia, his Albanians demanded pay from 
the Pasha, and were told to obtain the équivalent by 
plundering. Before Mohammed Ali could leave 
for his post, if indeed he ever had intended to do so, 

[270] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

a deputation came to him from the leading sheiks 
in Cairo, urging him to undertake the government 
of the city, and to dépose Khurshid Pasha, of whose 
incompétence and arbitrary methods they declared 
themselves tired. After some hésitation Moham- 
med Ali consented to accept their nomination, and a 
deputation was sent to Khurshid Pasha, informing 
him of his déposition, which he, as the représentative 
of the Sultan, refused to recognise, since only the 
authority by whom he had been appointed could 
cashier him. As Khurshid Pasha did not hesitate to 
bombard the town, Mohammed Ali employed the 
Mosque of the Sultan Hasan as a counter citadel, a 
use to which it was accustomed, and dragged cannon 
up Mount Mokattam so as to command the Citadel 
from behind also. Earnest représentations had 
meanwhile been sent to Constantinople, urging the 
recall of Khurshid and the appointment of Moham- 
med Ali in his place ; and by July 9 a rescript arrived 
from the Sultan, confirming the action of the sheiks, 
and declaring Khurshid deposed. A Turkish force 
was also sent to carry out thèse orders by force, should 
Khurshid continue to resist. Khurshid presently 
saw the vanity of such an endeavour, and on August 
3 Mohammed Ali entered the Citadel as governor of 
Egypt for the Porte. 

The Mamelukes had played an important part in 
the rise of Mohammed Ali, but he proved to be a 
more effective enemy to them than either the Turks 
or Bonaparte had been. In two scènes of carnage he 
caused the remains of them to disappear from the 

[271] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

face of Egypt. In August, 1805, shortly after his 
officiai appointment, a party of Mamelukes were 
through the Pasha's agents induced to enter Cairo by 
the Northern Gâte, on the supposition that the Pasha 
was away, seeing to the opening of the Nile dams, a 
ceremony which the chief authority in the capital 
regularly attended; soldiers had been put in ambus- 
cade in the houses that line the narrow street that ends 
at Bab Zuwailah, and thèse marksmen, when the 
Mameluke cavalry entered, dealt deadly exécution on 
both men and horses. The survivors took refuge in 
the School of the Sultan Barkuk, in the Nahassin 
Street; hère they were captured, and most of them 
afterwards executed. 

The second massacre took place in February, 181 1, 
when an army was equipped and ready to start for 
Arabia, to restore the authority of the Porte, and 
quell the Wahhabi rébellion. A réception was given 
at the Citadel, to which the Mamelukes were invited 
in numbers. On their departure they were attacked 
by the Albanian troops of the Viceroy, in the avenue 
eut in the solid rock which leads down f rom the Cita- 
del, the lower gâte having been closed. In this gorge 
460 are said to hâve perished, and orders had been 
issued to massacre those that were scattered about in 
Egypt. The event was followed by an attempt made 
by the soldiery to sack Cairo which the Pasha had 
some difficulty in repressing. 

To understand the feeling which prompted this 
measure it must be remembered that after the depar- 
ture of the French one of the Mameluke leaders had 

[272] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

visîted England, and for a time, while French in- 
fluence was on the side of the maintenance of Mo- 
hammed Ali, English influence was in favour of the 
restoration of the Mameluke régime. The idea of 
the Pasha was then to annihilate the party which in 
the event of disasters in Arabia might be in a position 
again to bring Egypt into disorder. And he did 
annihilate it. The Mamelukes play no part in the 
politics of Egypt since 1811. The widows of the 
slain were spared, but the Pasha claimed the right to 
give them in marriage to his followers. 

In the whole Mameluke System there is much that 
is obscure, especially in the phenomenon that thèse 
slave-rulers required constantly to be refreshed from 
outside, the ofïspring of the Emirs apparently amal- 
gamating with the Moslem population, and invari- 
ably taking ordinary Moslem names. It was a late 
survival in history of the old beginning of kingship, 
where a man slew the slayer, and should himself be 
slain ; for if this does not always literally hold good 
of the Mameluke sovereigns, yet it is a formula which 
does not diverge over widely from the truth. Ali 
Bey saw that the System must be struck at, but was 
satisfied with préventive measures for the future; 
Mohammed Ali tore out the System by the roots. 

Not quite a century has elapsed since that event, 
and Cairo is still the capital of Mohammed Ali's 
dynasty, and has expanded to greater dimensions than 
it ever reached under the most prosperous of its 
earlier sovereigns. 

Mohammed Ali's career has been repeatedly nar-^ 

[ 273 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

rated, and we hâve no room even to sketch it hère. 
Aided by his able son, Ibrahim Pasha, he subdued 
Arabia, whereas two other sons extended his 
dominions by conquests in the région of the Upper 
Nile. Like other possessors of Egypt, he was 
anxious to hold Syria as well; and, picking a quarrel 
with the Porte when that power had been weakened 
by the Greek War of Independence, he sent Ibrahim 
Pasha northwards, and shortly overran Syria and 
Asia Minor, and was in a position to threaten Con- 
stantinople itself. The interférence of Russia pre- 
vented the Egyptian Pasha dealing with the Sultan as 
the Buyids and Seljuks had dealt with the Caliph of 
Baghdad ; but for some six years Syria was an Egyp- 
tian province. The discontent of the Syrian popula- 
tion then gave the Porte an opportunity to attempt 
the recovery of this région, only, however, to sustain 
severe losses both on land and sea. But at this point 
the European concert stepped in. Yet it was not be- 
fore Ibrahim Pasha had been defeated by European 
officers that the pretensions of the Pasha of Egypt 
were moderated, and he was satisfied with the he- 
reditary government of the Valley of the Nile. In 
1841, by the terms of peace between Mohammed Ali 
on the one side and the Sultan with his European 
allies on the other, the government of Egypt was 
vested in the Pasha's f amily, though the title Khédive 
was not conferred on the ruler till some time later. 

Perhaps, if the history of the older Eastern con- 
querors were better recorded, we should in each case 
understand the means whereby they came to the front 

[274] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

and defeated their rivais. In Mohammed Ali's case, 
the secret lay in his détermination to adopt the civili- 
sation of Europe. The introduction of European 
drill and tactics was entirely against the préjudices of 
his subjects, and at first led to a plot for his assassina- 
tion; the conspiracy was revealed in time, but the un- 
popularity of his measures did not daunt the Pasha, 
and he even allowed the objectors to go unpunished. 
European, and especially French, officiais were in- 
troduced to train troops, cast cannon and build men- 
of-war; but the military inventions of the West were 
not the only ones adopted by the Pasha, who imported 
éducation, architecture and médical appliances from 
the same source. Vast schemes, some successful, 
others destined to failure, were set on foot with the 
object of increasing the productiveness of Egypt and 
even rendering it a manufacturing country, and the 
internai administration both of town and country 
underwent a radical change. To Mohammed Ali, 
moreover, is due, if not the introduction yet the en- 
forcement of religions toleration on an ample scale. 
Fanaticism, whether exercised against native or 
foreign Christians, was punished by him with 
exemplary promptitude; and the attitude of mutual 
respect and considération adopted by the varions reli- 
gions communities of Egypt, which is a pleasing fea- 
ture to any visitor of that country, probably dates 
from Mohammed Ali's time, though the brief French 
occupation may hâve contributed towards bringing it 
about. 

In Cairo itself Mohammed Ali introduced the 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

first spécimens of European architecture, and of 
course the capital was greatly altered during his 
long and eventful reign. His draining of the 
Ezbekiyyeh Pool has already been noticed; he built 
himself a palace at Shubra and laid out the long 
boulevard that connects this suburb with the capital, 
as well as another Connecting Cairo with Boulak, 
where a substantial new stone quay was erected for 
river steamers. To a late period in his reign belongs 
the Rue Neuve, the need for which was occasioned 
by the great number of foreign merchants settled in 
the Mouski, a street which dérives its name from a 
bridge built over the Great Canal by one Mouski, a 
relation of the great Saladin, who died in the year 
II 88. The Rue Neuve was begun in the year 1845, 
its width being calculated by the space requirements 
of two loaded camels passing each other. It crosses 
at right angles the old thoroughf are which originally 
bore the name Between the Two Palaces, and, doubt- 
less, in the course of its construction many an old 
landmark was obliterated. 

The name of Mohammed Ali is perpetuated in 
Cairo by his great mosque, erected on the Citadel 
after the older mosques of which there were so many 
at différent times, had f allen into ruin or become dis- 
used. The Mosque of Nasir still remains as a shell, 
but of the others few but archaeologists know the 
traces. Mohammed Ali's building is in imitation 
of the mosques of Constantinople, for ail which the 
original model was furnished by Saint Sophia. 
Prince Puckler Muskau visited Cairo when this 

[278] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

mosque was in course of érection, and speaks of it in 
the following enthusiastic strain: 

" At the Southern extremity of the Citadel the Vice- 
roy is now erecting a mosque, just opposite to the 
ruined Saladin [rather Nasir] Mosque, which in 
some respects will be the most superb édifice in the 
world ; for not only are ail the columns made of mas- 
sive, polished alabaster, but even the inner and outer 
walls are completely covered with this costly ma- 
terial, which has hitherto been employed only in 
making vases, watchstands and little knickknacks of 
the kind; and I should not be in the least surprised 
if the entire quarry of Sheik Abadeh were to be 
exhausted in the création of this temple. The efïect 
of the whole is quite astonishing; but it is very much 
apprehended that this délicate stone will not be able 
to withstand the efïects of the climate.'* 

Most European visitors are much more restrained 
in their admiration of this building, and regard the 
taste which it displays as vastly inferior to that ex- 
hibited in the mosques of the Mameluke period. The 
following is a translation of Ali Pasha Mubarak's 
description of it: 

" This Mosque was built by the late Hajj [i.e., 
Pilgrim], Mohammed Ali Pasha, native of Cavalla, 
founder of the Khedivial family in Egypt. He be- 
gan its érection in the year of the Hijrah, 1246 [1830- 
183 1], after he had set the afïairs of Egypt in order, 
and terminated those opérations of vast utility which 
we hâve sketched in the introduction to this book. 
He selected for its site the Citadel of Cairo, in order 

[279], 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

that the benefits of public worship might be enjoyed' 
by the employés in the palaces and public offices, in- 
asmuch as during his time ail the ministries and most 
of the offices were in the Citadel. He prepared for 
its érection a broad area, which contained the re- 
mains of édifices that had been erected by former 
sovereigns, ail of which he ordered to be cleared 
away, as also the soil till he came to the solid rock, 
on which he ordered the foundations to be laid. He 
built the walls of enormous stones, some three-and-a- 
half mètres in length; iron rods connected each pair 
of stones, and molten lead was poured in. In this 
style the foundations were laid till the surface of the 
ground was reached. The mosque was modelled on 
the beautiful Nur Osmaniyyeh Mosque of Constanti- 
nople, and in part on that of Sidi Sariyah on the 
Citadel — an unimportant mosque of which the orig- 
inal appears to be obscure. The building of the 
walls was continued in the style that has been 
described. Four doors were made, two to the north, 
one admitting to the court, the other to the dôme; two 
also were placed on the south side. The stone walls 
were faced with alabaster both within and without to 
their full height. He who enters from the gâte of 
the Citadel called Bab al-Daris finds a wide place in 
which he is confronted by the doors of the court and 
the dôme. The door leading into the court has in- 
scribed over it in marble a text from the Koran com- 
mending prayer. The letters are gilt. The threshold 
is of marble, the door of antique wood ; the tympanum 
is of wood also. The height of the door is four 

[280] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

mètres, the wooden tympanum is one mètre hîgh. 
The wall is two mètres thick. The court is fifty- 
seven mètres long by fifty-five broad, îts surface 
being 3135 square mètres. It embraces five liwans, 
surmounted by forty-seven dômes, mounted on 
marble pillars, eight mètres high, exclusive of the 
base. The number of thèse pillars which surround 
the court and support the dômes is forty-five. Each 
has a necking and torus of brass, and each column is 
connected with every other by an iron bar; the num- 
ber of thèse bars amounts to ninety-four. To each 
dôme there is appended a brass chain, to which a 
lamp is attached. On the left side as one enters f rom 
this door is the door of the minaret, of ordinary wood ; 
265 steps lead to the summit, exclusive of those w^hich 
lead up to the iron obelisk v^hich crowns it. On the 
left side in the middle, between the two liwans is the 
door which leads from the court into the dôme; it 
is of folding doors of antique wood, as also is the 
semicircular tympanum; over it the date is written 
in Turkish. Some seven years before the liwan, 
which comes after the door of the dôme, is the door 
which leads to the second minaret, ascended by the 
same number of steps as the last; they form winding 
staircases with bronze balustrades. The height of 
each of thèse minarets is eighty-four mètres from the 
ground, of which twenty-five and two-thirds are from 
the ground to the roof of the mosque. On the same 
left hand side are nine Windows belonging to the 
dôme, each of which contains a text from the Surah 
called Fath, engraved in marble and fîlled in with 

[281] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

gold. Over the door of the dôme there is written 
a text promising Believers Paradise; doubtless this 
promise bas been realised in the founder's case. In 
the middle of the court there is a wooden dôme 
mounted on eight marble columns, seven mètres high, 
underneath which there is a fountain with an ala- 
baster cupola, and sixteen spouts, with a marble 
spout over each, containing the text of the Koran 
which enjoins washing before prayer, and the tradi- 
tion, ' Washing is the Believer's Weapon.' In front 
of each spout there is a marble base. Between each 
pair of pillars there is an iron rod, holding a brass 
chain for a lamp, while over each is a crescent of 
bronze. Close by is the entrance to the cistern 
which is underneath the court; the coping is of ala- 
baster, and the lid of brass. There is a pump there 
also for raising the water. 

" The Southern gâte of the court resembles the 
northern, which it faces, and there is engraved above 
it in marble the text, ^ Your Lord hath prescribed 
unto Himself mercy.' In the liwans which sur- 
round the court there are thirty-eight Windows, each 
two-and-a-half mètres in length, and one-and-a-half 
in breadth; the thickness of the wall is two mètres. 
It contains a window in bronze. In front of the 
north door, which gives entrance to the dôme, there 
is a gallery on twenty-four alabaster columns, with 
bronze neckings and tori, each eight mètres high, not 
including the base. The pillars are connected by 
twenty-two iron bars, and surmounted by eleven 
dômes with bronze crescents. Hence you proceed 

[282] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

into the sanctuary, which is almost square, forty-six 
mètres by forty-five, exclusive of the liwan on the 
kiblah side, which is seventeen mètres by nine, with 
an area of one hundred and thirty-five mètres. In 
it there is a very lofty dôme, some sixty-one mètres 
above the floor of the Mosque, mounted on four piers 
of hewn stone, faced with marble to a height of two 
mètres. The dôme has four semicircles, one on 
each side, and four small dômes. The whole of the 
great dôme is elaborately painted, and decorated 
with gold-leaf. There are circles painted round it, 
with certain pious formulas inscribed in gold-leaf. 
To the left of the sanctuary you fînd the Mihrab, 
with a semicircular roofîng, while the niche itself is 
in marble with an inscription in coloured glass. The 
niche is enclosed by two small marble columns, with 
brass necking and torus. To the left, close to one of 
the piers that hâve been mentioned, is the reader's 
chair made of wood, with a balustrade of the same 
material turned. Five steps lead up to it, and it is 
carpeted with red cloth. To the right is the pulpit 
of wood, decorated with gold-leaf, reached by twen- 
ty-fîve steps, also carpeted with red cloth and with 
folding doors. Above in a circle there is inscribed 
the text, ^ Friday is with God the best of days.' 
Above the preacher's seat is a tall dôme on four 
wooden columns, with a Koranic text written round 
it. At the bottom of the pulpit there is a guichet on 
each side, inscribed with texts; between them there 
is a sort of cupboard to which access is given by a 
door under the pulpit. Opposite the Mihrab is the 

[283] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

door of the dôme leading out of the court, sur- 
mounted by a bench for the Mueddins, extending the 
whole breadth of the sanctuary, and mounted on 
eight marble pillars, eight mètres high, surrounded 
by a bronze balustrade, which also surrounds the 
upper part of the sanctuary, this upper part contain- 
ing thirty-one brass Windows, with lights of white 
glass. At a distance of about twelve mètres there is 
another balustrade, facing thirty-one more Windows, 
this time of stained glass. Between (?) the two 
there are the twenty-four Windows of the great dôme, 
with a brass balustrade, the Windows being of bronze 
work with stained glass lights, and the balustrade at 
the top of the dôme has in front of it forty stained 
glass Windows. Round each of the four dômes men- 
tioned above there are ten Windows with balustrade. 
The purpose of thèse balustrades is to support lamps. 
In the semicircle of the Mihrab there are sixteen 
Windows, with a gallery containing a balustrade in 
front, and round the wall low down there are thirty- 
six Windows each two-and-a-half mètres long, with 
white glass lights, each one containing a portion of 
the poem called ' Burdah.' Access is given to the 
galleries from the two minarets and the roof of the 
Mosque. The southern door of the dôme, which 
faces the northern, has written on the outside ^ God's 
are the places of worship, and invoke no one with 
God.' In front is a vast gallery, on eleven columns 
of alabaster, some eight mètres high. Twenty-two 
iron bars connect thèse pillars, which are surmounted 
by eleven dômes, similar to those in the gallery facing 

[284] 




SOUK SELAL, THE AKMOUKEKS' BAZAAR. CAIRO. 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

the first door. The tomb of the founder, which he 
ordered to be hewn for himself in the solid rock, is 
in the southwest corner to the right as one enters f rom 
the door leading from the court into the dôme. The 
completion of the Mosque in this style was in the 
year 1261 [1845]. The founder died three years 
later, and was followed by Ibrahim his son, who died 
shortly after. He was succeeded by Abbas Pasha, 
son of Tusun, who ordered the Mosque to be fînished. 
They whitewashed the piers, and then painted them 
to look like marble, paved the floor, and painted and 
inscribed the dômes.'' 

One other monument in Cairo which préserves the 
name of Mohammed Ali, the Boulevard called after 
him, belongs to the reign of Isma'il Pasha, who gov- 
erned Egypt from 1863 to 1882. Its site was a séries 
of graveyards, which continued in use till Mo- 
hammed Ali's time. The bones were coUected when 
the Boulevard was eut, and distributed in various 
places ; over the spot where many of them were laid 
a mosque called the Bone Mosque was built. The 
plans were drawn in 1873. M. Rhonè, who is no 
f riend to the rénovation of Cairo, gives the foUowing 
description of the process by which the Boulevard 
was made : " Like a shot fired too soon, it started one 
fine day from the Ezbekiyyeh, without knowing 
whither it was going, and alighted at a distance of 
two kilomètres from its starting-point, at the for- 
midable angle of the mosque of the Sultan Hasan, 
which it could not help encountering. On its way 
it had displaced a whole hillful of houses and 

[287] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

mosques; halfway, on the canal, ît let fall îts burden 
of débris, and this gave birth to the palace of Mansur 
Pasha.'' Ali Pasha, who took part in the under- 
taking, naturally speaks in a différent style of this 
great artery, which he holds to hâve benefîted Cairo 
enormously, among other services purifying the air. 
But the amount of displacing donc w^as enormous; 
398 buildings had to be removed to make room for 
the Boulevard; of thèse 325 were dwellings, some 
large and some small; the rest were baths, bake- 
houses, etc., besides religions buildings. We hâve 
already seen that the Mosque of Kausun sufïered 
severely, though it must be added that Mehren, v^ho 
made his list of religious monuments of Cairo before 
the construction of the Boulevard found this mosque 
in a ruinons condition; another sanctuary that suf- 
fered v^as that of the Sheik Nu'man, dating from 
the year 1575. 

Isma'il Pasha is the founder of modem Cairo, of 
w^hich the centre is the Place Atabah al-Khadra, or 
the Green Threshold, supposed to be called after a 
palace with that name which formerly existed there, 
and was the abode of one Mohammed al-Shara'ibi, 
who lived in the twelfth Mohammedan century. 
From it there radiate streets or boulevards in ail 
directions; Mouski leads eastwards to the old parts 
of the city, crossing where was once the Grand Canal 
to what remains of the work of the Fatimides ; west- 
wards a number of avenues lead to the quarter called 
after Isma'il, the abode of the English and the 
wealthy. Whea new streets are built, an attempt is 

[ 288 ] 



THE KHEDIVIA POLDERI 

made to préserve some history in their names; few, 
such as the Boulevard Clôt Bey, are called after quite 
modem personages; in most cases they préserve the 
memory of either an ancient quarter, or some build- 
ing that once stood near their sites. The committee, 
to whose work allusion has so often been made, acting 
on expert opinion, sees that no ancient work is de- 
stroyed which has either historical or artistic interest. 
Europe has taught the East to pay révérence to its 
ancient monuments. 

If Cairo should ever indulge in the taste for his- 
torical pageants which is so characteristic of our 
country at this time, it would not be difficult to find 
a number of scènes worth reproducing, some of them 
graced with figures that loom large in the vista of 
the centuries. Ahmad Ibn Tulun's architect sum- 
moned from his prison to solve the problem of the 
mosque; Jauhar drawing the lines of his city at an 
auspicious moment; Saladin rejecting the splen- 
dours of the Fatimide Palace; Shajar al-durr receiv- 
ing the homage of the Emirs behind her curtain; 
Baibars receiving his investiture from the Caliph 
of his own appointment; Kala'un's Hospital in- 
augurated by a disloyal preacher; Cairo decorated to 
celebrate the fall of Constantinople, and presently 
itself entered in triumph by the Ottoman Sultan ; al- 
Azhar, stormed by Bonaparte's soldiers; the Mame- 
lukes surrendering to Mohammed Ali in the Barkuk 
Mosque — thèse might be suggested as a character- 
istic and not wholly uninteresting sélection. And if 
scènes from yet later times were included, theie 

[289] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

might be a few in which great Englishmen fîgured 
also: Baker, sent by Isma'il Pasha to suppress the 
slave-trade in the Soudan; Gordon, hastening to bis 
heroic defence of Khartoum; and last, but not least, 
the farewell address of the statesman to whom the 
présent financial and administrative prosperity of 
Cairo is due. 



[290] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

^^^^^HE situation of Jérusalem is majestîc and 
m (r\ impressive. It lies on four hills, which 
^L^^^ some with a taste for sacred numbers hâve 
^^"^ wished to increase to seven ; on three sides 
(ieep valleys encircle it. Both those that separate the 
hills and those that surround them were at an earlier 
period far deeper than they are now, since excavators 
hâve found accumulations of rubbish about them, 
varying in depth from forty to over a hundred feet; 
one of the hills was, it is said, deliberately lowered as 
a military précaution, and one of the internai dépres- 
sions artificially filled up. Before thèse opérations 
of art and nature were accomplished, the features 
which excite our admiration now must hâve been 
greatly accentuated. And those hâve taught us most 
about the ancient topography of the city who hâve 
driven shafts and tunnels through thèse accumu- 
lations, and mapped out underground Jérusalem. 
Their work constituted a record in excavation, and 
some of their names are dear to the British nation 
on quite other than archaeological grounds. If they 
hâve left many a controversy undetermined, it is be- 

[293] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

cause inscriptions, the surest indications of ancient 
sites, hâve rarely been discovered, and still more 
rarely on the places where they originally stood ; be- 
cause the place has been often taken by relentless 
enemies, determined if possible to leave no stone 
upon another; and because ancient descriptions of it 
are often either idéal descriptions, or made by per- 
sons who wrote at a distance from the scènes which 
they described, and were perhaps unskilled in accu- 
rate observation and the technicalities of archi- 
tecture. 

The nature of the soil has determined the area of 
the city, but except for its brief period of glory, to 
w^hich allusion will presently be made, there w^as no 
reason why it should ever hâve to harbour a great 
population. Since the building of the second Tem- 
ple it has been far more a religious than a politi- 
cal centre; and even as such it has never been able 
to occupy quite the first rank. With Islam it was 
only occasionally and under spécial circumstances 
able to rival Meccah; with the more powerful por- 
tion of Christianity it was superseded by Rome. 
Probably the more energetic and capable of the 
Israélites hâve regularly preferred to be its occa- 
sional visitors than to constitute part of its perma- 
nent population. The class whom such a place at- 
tracts consists of persons worn out with worldly 
things, and interested only in spiritual concerns, 
while the expectation of a golden stream from out- 
side discourages in the natives the original effort and 
the growth of those sterling qualities which the 

[294] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

struggle for existence ordinarily produces. Con- 
stantly recruited from without, it produces little or 
nothing from within. Thus for an indigenous art or 
architecture in Jérusalem no one looks ; the explorer 
searches only for relies of the styles imported at dif- 
férent periods sometimes by domestic rulers, more 
often by donors and benefactors. The Solomonic 
Temple was in Phœnician style, the Temple of 
Nehemiah probably Persian; for later buildings the 
models were furnished by Greece, Rome and Byzan- 
tium, after which came Norman and Gothic impor- 
tations from Europe; to-day the patterns in fashion 
in every European state of conséquence are repre- 
sented. Should a new Jewish Temple be built on 
the Haram area, it would probably be from French 
or Italian designs. 

The period during which the city could claim the 
title impérial was very short, extending no longer 
than the reigns of David and Solomon, the former 
of whom appears to hâve brought several of the sur- 
rounding peoples into subjection. This is the view 
which we take, if we approach the Old Testament 
record without too great scepticism. With the name 
of the first of thèse two sovereigns the city has been 
in historié times connected, although there is a great 
doubt as to the part of it which he occupied; the 
opérations executed by him with the view of making 
the place a metropolis are too briefly stated to permit 
of much being elicited. The name appears to go 
back to a much earlier period than that of David, 
who is said to hâve found the city, or part of it, in 

[ 295 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

possession of a tribe called Jebus, after whom it was 
then called; members of the tribe occasionally meet 
us after David's seizure of their stronghold. Their 
fortress is usually supposed to hâve occupied one of 
the hills only, with which the founder of Israelitish 
Jérusalem incorporated others, enclosing the whole 
with a wall. Such dwellings as already existed 
would then be allotted to those who helped to storm 
the fortress, and permission given for others to build. 
The speed with which the résidence of a victorious 
prince attracts inhabitants is extraordinary, and Jéru- 
salem was doubtless a populous city before his reign 
ended. That no sanctuary was erected by him to 
the national Deity seems certain, and the fact re- 
quired explanation at an early time; that in which 
the later Jews acquiesced was that he was disquali- 
fied for erecting a sanctuary by the blood which he 
had shed, but the earlier explanation may hâve been 
différent. 

The only monument in the city's neighbourhood 
which may be actually connected with David is the 
King's tomb outside the Sion Gâte. The exact spot 
where David was buried is not mentioned in his 
biography, but his tomb is employed as a landmark 
by Nehemiah, and is mentioned repeatedly by Jose- 
phus, who déclares that the King had much treasure 
de'posited with him, which in the centuries just pre- 
ceding the Christian Era was despoiled by Hyrcanus 
and Herod. In the Acts of the Apostles also the 
tomb of David is mentioned as a well-known object 
in Jérusalem. A Christian tradition identifies a 

[296] 




nÊm^Ê 



\^ 




'M 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

room in the buildings surrounding the tomb as the 
Upper Chamber where the Eucharist was instituted 
and where the miracle of Pentecost was wrought. 
The room is said by Epiphanius to hâve remained 
undestroyed when the city was burned by Titus, and 
to hâve afterwards been used as a church. A cou- 
vent for the Franciscans was hère erected in the four- 
teenth century by Sancia, Queen of Robert of Sicily, 
which was taken from them by the Moslems in 1560, 
it is said, owing to the vengeance of a Jew, who had 
desired to perform his dévotions at the tombs of 
David and Solomon underneath the couvent, and 
had been refused permission by the Franciscans, and 
who then persuaded the Grand Vizier at Constau- 
tiuople to take the tombs of the two Kings, whom 
the Koran calls Prophets, out of the hands of unbe- 
lievers. A few favoured travellers hâve had access 
to the tombs themselves, which appear to hâve been 
discovered in the time of Benjamin of Tudela, when 
stones were taken from the wall of Mount Sion to 
repair the church. The story of their discovery is 
not free from fabulons éléments, but some monu- 
ments of artistic excellence appear to exist on the 
spot. The question to whom they belong has not 
been defînitely solved, and even in Nehemiah's time 
the traditional site may not necessarily hâve been 
the real one. 

Solomon's character, like that of David, îs a fa- 
miliar one to readers of Oriental history. While 
the father was the enterprising and astute empire- 
builder, the son was the magnificent patron of the 

[299] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

arts, of literature, and of commerce. Under him the 
metropolis began to be adorned with édifices worthy 
of the sovereign's power and wealth, and foreign 
artificers were summoned to erect them, the Phœni- 
cians at this time occupying the place which at a 
later period belonged to Greeks, and after them to 
nations yet further west. Of the building of the 
Temple, the sacred writers hâve preserved a most 
elaborate account; and though there is some contro- 
versy as to the part of the Haram area which it occu- 
pied, there appears to be gênerai agreement as to the 
practical correctness of the traditional site. The 
breaches in the continuity of the tradition are not in- 
deed considérable; perhaps the most considérable 
being that between the times of Jeremiah and Nehe- 
miah, though Moslem writers make it appear that 
when the Mohammedan conqueror wished to be 
directed to the site of the Temple, wrong directions 
were given him at first, apparently through igno- 
rance. The probability is that none of the vicissi- 
tudes through which Jérusalem passed left the coun- 
try quite without inhabitants f amiliar with so notable 
a site. Besides the Temple, the King's own domestic 
arrangements required the érection of several pal- 
aces, and probably of numerous shrines for the hous- 
ing of the deities worshipped by the différent nation- 
alities represented in his household. 

Of thèse palaces and sanctuaries the Bible pré- 
serves some names and some architectural détails; 
but of the gênerai appearance of the city in Solo- 
mon's time it is not possible to gather any distinct 

[300] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

impression. The material used by him appears to 
hâve been perishable in the extrême, and it is un- 
likely that any work executed by him still remains. 
Owing, however, to the memories of Solomon's wis- 
dom and magnificence, legend attributes to him ail 
anonymous works on a great scale that are to be 
found either in the city or in its neighbourhood. 
The theory that Solomon had supernatural agencies 
under his control enabling him to carry out the vast- 
est designs can be traced back to the time of Josephus, 
and through the influence of the Koran has become 
an article of faith with Moslems. The Biblical ac- 
count of his methods shows that no supernatural 
agents were requisite. The whole wealth of a small 
country, and unlimited labour, such as lay at the dis- 
posai of the Sultan of the time, would easily account 
for the exécution of any of the works attributed to 
him. No contemporary traveller tells us what Jéru- 
salem looked like in his day, for the memoirs of the 
Queen of Saba, if she left any, hâve not come down. 
Probably it was largely a collection of wooden buts. 
Thèse form an intermediate stage between the dwell- 
ings of the nomad and the town résident; and the 
cry, " To your tents, O Israël " had not ceased to be 
heard in Solomon's time. The palaces difïered 
from the other bouses in the quality, but not in the 
nature of the material of which they were mainly 
constructed. 

The magnificent monarch often leaves on the mind 
of his subjects not so much pride in his grandeur as 
resentment at the extortions which hâve been the 

[301] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

source of his magnificence, and with ail but Solo- 
mon's own tribe and one other the latter appears to 
hâve been the sentiment which dominated. The un- 
popularity which has attached to the tribe of Judah 
ever since it became known to the gênerai world, 
seems to hâve belonged to it in its relations with the 
other tribes constituting Israël, and so soon as Solo- 
mon was dead, they hastened to throw ofï a yoke, 
which indeed the King's taste for building by forced 
labour had rendered exceptionally severe. Other 
sanctuaries became more popular with the northern 
kingdom, which was far more populous and power- 
ful than the small remuant which remained loyal to 
the family of David. That loyalty, however, ap- 
pears to bave been a deep-rooted sentiment, and to 
hâve kept the southern kingdom tolerably free from 
the scramble for the sovereignty which disturbed and 
finally wrecked the northern. The record which we 
hâve of both is exceedingly imperfect, and in the 
matter of building we hear chiefly of repairs done 
to the wall of Jérusalem, of the occasional érection 
of towers, and of provisions made for a better water 
supply. The only inscription in Jérusalem which is 
from the period of the kings is that which records 
the construction of an aqueduct in the time of Kirig 
Hezekiah. This aqueduct, which took the form of 
a tunnel, appears to hâve been commenced at both 
ends at once, a fact which implies the existence of 
greater engineering skill, and instruments of greater 
précision, than we should ordinarily suppose to hâve 
been possessed by the Jews. 

[302] 



■sm^ 







A 









CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

The condition of Jérusalem during the period of 
the divided kingdom, as the Book of Kings records 
it, was by no means one of quiet development; it was, 
on the contrary, one of perpétuai disturbance, in 
which city and Temple were repeatedly sacked, 
varied at times by spells of peace and prosperity 
under some compétent ruler. The maintenance of 
the Temple was, it would seem, during the whole 
time, the chief function of the King, and according 
to the influences to which différent kings were sub- 
ject many innovations were introduced, both in the 
structure of the sanctuary and in the form of ritual. 
The unfriendly attitude adopted by the Jewish 
religion towards ail others appears at least in prac- 
tice to date from the last century of the monarchy; 
previously Jérusalem contained sanctuaries dedicated 
to objects of worship other than the God of Israël, 
and the Temple itself at times harboured altars of 
more than one Deity. The record which has come 
down to us of Jewish history is written in the spirit 
of Deuteronomy, and is too deeply hostile to pagan 
cuits to take any interest in the monuments erected 
for their célébration; while, therefore, we hear occa- 
sionally of the names of deities to whom shrines were 
dedicated in Jérusalem, it is chiefly when the his- 
torian rejoices over their destruction; neither has he 
any more sympathy with sanctuaries intended for the 
God of Israël, but outside the Temple area. We 
therefore conjecture rather than know for certain 
that Jérusalem, in its best days, presented an appear- 
ance not unlike what it exhibits to-day, where with 

[ 304 ] • 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

one pre-eminent mosque representing the dominant 
cuit, there is associated a variety of other mosques, 
churches and synagogues, the latter belonging, to a 
large extent, to strangers, though in part to natives; 
the notion that the sanctity of the chief édifice is 
impugned by the présence of thèse other places of 
worship has now been outgrown, though even before 
the Deuteronomic reform it had no wide currency. 

The mode whereby that reform was introduced 
has been made out, so far as the nature of the évi- 
dence admits of positive conclusions, by those who 
hâve written on the history of Israelitish religion, 
and we know that when Judaism was once started 
on the doctrine of one God, one Temple, it drew 
the inferences with ever-increasing rigour. Prob- 
ably those are right who trace the origin of the 
process to the deliverance of Jérusalem from Sen- 
nacherib, when the northern Kingdom had been 
swept away by Assyria. If, as the history suggests, 
there were strong reasons why the sect, whose motto 
was the doctrine stated, could claim the miracle as 
one granted specially to their cause, their ability to 
monopolise Judaism and in time Jérusalem seems 
to be explained. That efïect was not attained with- 
out violent reactions, in the course of which Jérusa- 
lem itself perished, for the miracle was not renewed, 
and the violent religious persécutions which fol- 
lowed the reign of Hezekiah must hâve greatly re- 
duced such power of résistance as the Jewish people 
might hâve been able to bring against the tremen- 
dous power of Babylon. Belief, however, in the 

[ 305 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

sanctity of the spot where alone a temple might stand 
and sacrifice could be ofïered was harboured as a 
precious heirloom by the descendants of those who 
had been forcibly ejected from the sacred city. The 
conviction that it would eventually arise from its 
ruins, no more to be polluted by alien worships, gave 
it for a time an idéal existence, and enthusiasts de- 
voted their énergies to planning how it should be 
laid ont. 

The time which elapsed before such opérations 
could be executed seems to hâve been very lengthy. 
It is not now thought probable that there was a Jéru- 
salem between that of David and that of Nehemiah; 
if there was it must hâve been a place of small im- 
portance, for the inquisitive Herodotus, who com- 
posed his inquiry in the fifth century B.C.^ had heard 
of Palestine but appears not to hâve heard of Jéru- 
salem. Josephus answers that he had also not heard 
of Rome, a reply which seems unsatisfactory. A re- 
turn from exile in the form of a splendid pageant, 
such as some of the Prophets awaited, did not take 
place; but early in the fourth century, B.C.^ one 
Nehemiah, who had won promotion at the Persian 
court, then in possession of the East, obtained leave 
to rebuild city and temple on a modest scale. The 
restored J^erusalem appears to date from his efforts, 
but the combination of his authentic narrative with 
another of unknown date and authority has rendered 
the process of restoration hard to foUow. The un- 
friendly attitude adopted towards their neighbours 
by the Israélites seems to hâve involved the re- 

[ 306 ] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

builders of Jérusalem in difficulties, but there is no 
(doubt that through the work of Nehemiah it was 
raised to the rank of something like a provincial cap- 
ital, and this rank it retained when before the close of 
the fourth century Persian domination gave way to 
Greek. 

For the gap which séparâtes the termination of the 
Old Testament from the Maccabaean period even 
Josephus appears to hâve had only historical ro- 
mances to guide him, but in the restored city, pre- 
vented by the suzerain power from having an inde- 
pendent foreign policy, something like the theocracy 
contemplated in the Mosaic législation could be put 
in practice. And of the divine worship which con- 
stituted the main concern of the city the représenta- 
tion projected by the Books of Chronicles into the 
âge of David is likely to be a faithful account. 

The one fragment of history that belongs to this 
period tells how one of the high priests fortified the 
Temple and secured the city against besieging. 
This does not imply independence, but a wise pré- 
caution, since one of the most painful features of 
warfare in ail but the most modem times was that the 
people, whether belonging to the ruling castes or not, 
sufïered ail the horrors that accompanied the sack- 
ing of cities in quarrels that were not theirs. During 
this period Palestine was alternately in the power of 
Egyptian and Syrian princes, and was perpetually 
exposed to their hordes. The peculiarities of Israel- 
itish worship began to attract some attention in the 
Hellenic world, and with thèse the foreign garrisons 

[ 307 ], 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

located in the Citadel could not fail to obtain a tol- 
erable acquaintance. While in some cases the im- 
pression created was not unfavourable, in others 
Judaism roused the véhément hatred which for some 
reason or other it has constantly been found capable 
of exciting. Finally, in the first quarter of the sec- 
ond century B.C.^ the Syrian monarch, Antiochus 
Epiphanes, set himself the task of destroying Juda- 
ism, and compelling its adhérents to adopt Hellenic 
culture. Pagan worship was instituted in the 
Temple itself, and the animal which for unknown 
reasons is abhorred by Jews and Moslems was se- 
lected for sacrifice. Interférence with the exercise 
of the law provoked resentment which no amount of 
oppression of a différent sort could hâve awakened: 
the family of Mattathias, a descendant of Asmoneus, 
was found equal to organising résistance, and its 
members by their victories secured to their country- 
men a fresh lease of independence, and renewed 
prosperity for Jérusalem. A tower commanding 
the Temple area which had been erected by the per- 
secutors was destroyed by the defenders of Judaism, 
and the Temple purifîed f rom its défilement. 

To the Maccabaean period — or a little later — there 
belongs a description of the city, professedly written 
by a Greek of the third century B.C.^ but in reality 
by a Jew of a much later time, anxious as many as of 
his race hâve often been to conceal his nationality 
and identity. Whether this writer had ever seen 
the city which he depicts is uncertain : in any case his 
account is quite idéal and belongs rather to the con- 

[308] 




-Hr 




JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

ception of the heavenly Jérusalem, of which we hâve 
seen the origin. Situated in the midst of mountains, 
on a high hill, Jérusalem was crowned with a Temple 
girt with three walls over seventy cubits high. The 
court of the Temple, which was paved with marble, 
covered vast réservoirs of water — this part of the 
description is confirmed by Sir C. Warren's discov- 
eries — fountains of which washed away the blood of 
the myriads of beasts there ofïered. The streets 
formed a séries of terraces stretching from the brow 
of the hill down into the valley, and were furnished 
with raised pavements, the purpose of which was 
to prevent the clean being contaminated by contact 
with the unclean. It was admirably fortified with 
a number of towers arranged like the tiers in a 
théâtre. The compass of the city was about forty 
stades. The comparison of the city to a théâtre, of 
which the temple area was the stage, has been made 
by others, yet its appropriateness seems very doubtful. 
Before the Maccabaean dynasty had lasted a cen- 
tury, the precious possession of independence was 
sacrificed to the personal ambitions of rival claim- 
ants for the chief place in the State ; Jérusalem was 
taken by Pompey, and the Holy of Holies profaned 
by the entrance of a stranger. But ère long Herod, 
who in the troubles which ruined the Roman Repub- 
lic, had played with consummate skill a difficult 
hand, being installed as monarch, and obtaining pos- 
session of Jérusalem at the price of a tremendous 
massacre, restored the city to greatness by no means 
inferior to that of its impérial days. His deeds were 

[311] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

recounted by a contemporary of his own, whose work 
survives in the excerpts made by the Jewish historian 
Josephus, whose books form a storehouse of informa- 
tion on the topography of Jérusalem, which, if in no 
w^ise to be compared with Makrizi's account of 
Cairo, is yet highly prized for its fulness of détail. 

Money ruthlessly extorted by Herod w^as spent 
by him in beautifying and strengthening his capital, 
where he rebuilt the Temple on a scale of unsur- 
passed magnificence — unless, indeed, the concept of 
the heavenly Jérusalem may hâve afïected the rep- 
résentations of Josephus. The king built threc 
towers " excelling ail in the world in size, beauty and 
strength," which he named after his brother, his 
friend and his wife. To the north of the city he 
built a palace surpassing ail powers of description, 
surrounded with a wall thirty cubits high, containing 
banqueting-halls, guest-chambers, avenues, channels 
for water, and ail else that can be imagined. The 
white marble blocks of which the towers were con- 
structed were so truly joined that each appeared to 
be one mass of stone. How much in the descriptions 
of thèse buildings is due to the imagination is un- 
known: the buildings themselves hâve disappeared 
without a trace. Herod's magnificence no more 
won the afïection of his subjects than did Solomon's 
before him; the people at his death thought the 
direct yoke of Rome préférable to an Oriental des- 
potism, and before the destruction of the city they 
had painful expérience of both. 

The Jérusalem of the Gospels is, of course^ 

[312] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

Herod's Jérusalem, with some altérations effected by 
Roman occupation. On the whole the magnificence 
ascribed by Josephus to the buildings of Herod is 
borne out by allusions in the early Christian records, 
and an inscription discovered by M. Clermont-Gan- 
iieau, composed in the Greek of this period, in which 
strangers are forbidden to proceed beyond a certain 
point in the Temple area on pain of death, strikingly 
confirms the statements of the Jewish historian. The 
employment of the Temple at this time as a place 
where those who wished to give instruction could 
do so is similar to that which is characteristic of the 
Moslem Mosque. But the elaborate ritual of which 
the Temple was the scène has rather been inherited 
by the Christian sanctuary, though of course the 
abolition of sacrifice, due to the destruction of the 
Temple, has deprived religious worship of what 
used to be its most important feature. The attention 
of the Jewish historian and the oral tradition of his 
countrymen is so much engrossed by the Temple, the 
palaces and the forts, that little is left for the other 
public and private buildings which at this time filled 
the city; we hear casually of a gymnasium, and ob- 
tain a casual référence to public baths. We hear of 
numerous synagogues shortly after the destruction of 
the Temple, and it is likely that there was no lack 
of thèse, in différent parts of the city, in the period 
which preceded that disaster. Some provision must 
also hâve been made for the religious wants of the 
foreign army of occupation, and indeed for those of 
other foreign visitors, though the Romans seem ordi- 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

r 

narily to hâve respected Jewish préjudices on this 
subject so far as possible. And especially must pro- 
vision hâve been made for the great numbers of 
devout persons who visited the metropolis regularly 
at feast times. 

Of Herod's descendants, Herod Agrippa, the 
f riend of Claudius, v^ho for his services in connection 
with the Emperor's accession had received his grand- 
father's kingdom, continued the work of fortifica- 
tion, and commenced, where practicable, a new en- 
circling wall, rendered necessary by the growth of 
the population, which, had it been completed, 
should, in the opinion of Josephus, hâve rendered 
the city impregnable. 

The city was for a short time the focus of gênerai 
attention during the rébellion quelled by Vespasian 
and Titus, and ending in the fall of Jérusalem in the 
year 70. It would be interesting to know the 
amount of the population at this time, but our 
authorities give figures which could only with great 
difficulty be accommodated in the space ; 600,000, or 
about eight times the présent population, and 
2,500,000, or about thirty-five times the existing num- 
bers. Moreover, the présent population covers an 
area which seems certainly to include ground that 
was outside the city besieged by Titus. The same 
must be said of thèse numbers as of the wall seventy 
cubits high that surrounded the Temple, that they 
suit the heavenly Jérusalem rather than the earthly. 
iWhatever the numbers may hâve been, they were 
unable to défend the city, which appears to hâve been 

[314] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

destroyed no less thoroughly than after its capture by 
the Babylonians. Herod's three towers are said to 
hâve been left, with as much of the western wall as 
would serve to protect the ruins. It would seem that 
the destruction of the public buildings did not pre- 
vent a certain number of persons returning to their 
homes, and a community established itself there after 
the fall, similar to that which may hâve occupied the 
same site before the time of Nehemiah. 

About sixty years after the f ail a man who believed 
himself to be the Messiah, and persuaded others of 
the same, Bar Cochba, heading a new nationalist 
movement on the part of the Jews, seized the ruined 
city, refortified it, and proceeded to rebuild the 
Temple. The revolt was not more successful than 
that described by Josephus; and, after its suppres- 
sion, Jérusalem was turned into a Roman colony, 
called Aelia Capitolina, with a temple to Jupiter 
Capitolinus on the Temple area. To that god in 
Vespasian's time the tribute had been assigned that 
had previously been sent by the Jews to their own 
Temple, and the Jews were forbidden access and 
even approach to the city of their fathers. The 
name Aelia supplanted the time-honoured name, 
which for a while belonged exclusively to the 
heavenly city of devotional fancy, which the fall of 
Jérusalem under Titus had caused to be painted in 
more gorgeous colours than before. Even now 
Aelia is with Moslems the alternative appellation for 
'^ the Holy City," and figures on the imprints of 
books printed at Jérusalem. 

[315] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Of the events which led to Jérusalem being en- 
deared to half the world, few at the time realised the 
importance. The progress of Christianity, its sép- 
aration from Judaism, its honeycombing the Roman 
Empire, and its final adoption by a Roman emperor, 
form a fascinating subject of study, which at no time 
is likely to make the process perfectly clear. Except 
for the brief period occupied by siège and fall, it is 
probable that the Christian community at Jérusalem 
maintained a sort of continuity, and the concept of 
the New Jérusalem covered the site of the Old with 
a sanctity of which it was never divested, even before 
the instinct for pilgrimage found its interprétation 
in the désire to visit the sacred sites. 

One of the first results of the conversion of the 
Empire to Christianity was that steps were taken to 
cover with worthy monuments the places where 
scènes of transcendent importance had been enacted. 
A church was erected with great magnificence by 
Constantine, containing within its walls the Tomb 
of Christ, the place of the Crucifixion, and the spot 
where the True Cross had been found. 

What reason is there for supposing that the sites 
were still known in the fourth century, and could be 
accurately located? The question has often been 
debated, though it is uncertain when scepticism was 
first expressed. The best discussion of it is to be 
found in the posthumous work of Sir Charles Wilson, 
called " Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre," pub- 
lished by the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1906. 
The eminent explorer's conclusion is ambiguous, and 

[316] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

does not therein dîfïer f rom that of many others who 
hâve been over the ground. There is no évidence that 
the site had any interest for the Christian community 
till long after ail chance of being able to identify to 
it had disappeared, owing to the violent convulsions 
which had attended the taking of Jérusalem by 
Titus, its recapture at a later time by Bar Cochba, 
and its transformation into a Roman colony by 
Hadrian. To those who were filled with belief in 
the living Christ, any interest in the Holy Sepulchre 
would savour of the absurdity condemned in the 
Gospel of seeking the living among the dead. Only 
when an emperor desired the site to be recovered 
persons would not be wanting ready to discover it. 
The question for us is what indications led those who 
identified the site to sélect one rather than another. 
How came they to mention only the most obvious 
difficulty, to place the Tomb inside the City, when 
the Gospel leads us to suppose that it was outside? 
If the site was in accordance with authentic tradi- 
tion, the City must hâve been moved, i.e., its walls 
must in the time of Constantine hâve included a 
space which they did not include at a time when 
there is great reason for supposing the City to hâve 
been far more populous. Moreover is the proximity 
of the Sepulchre to the place of crucifixion either 
likely or suggested by the sacred narrative? The 
writers who narrate the discovery of thèse sacred 
sites usually introduce into the story the miraculous 
élément; and this portion of it is scarcely less im- 
probable than the explanation given by some nar- 

[317] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

rators that the site was learned f rom a Jew tortured 
to reveal it. For why should such knowledge be 
preserved by Jews? Tradition seems unanimously 
to assert that the site was hidden beneath a Temple 
of Venus, a goddess of evil réputation, whose shrine 
was thought to be an intentional profanation of the 
holy spot, and that those who searched there were 
rewarded by the discovery of a grave, and presently 
by other confirmation of their find. The large liter- 
ature that exists on this subject illustrâtes the varying 
efïect of arguments not only on différent minds, but 
on the same mind at différent times. The ordinary 
visitor may be contented with Sir C. Wilson's con- 
clusion that while there is no décisive reason, histori- 
cal, traditional or topographical, for placing Gol- 
gotha and the Tomb where they are now shown, yet 
no objection urged against the sites is of such a con- 
vincing nature that it need " disturb the minds of 
those who accept in ail good faith the authenticity 
of places that are hallowed by the prayers of count- 
less pilgrims." 

Other writers hâve expressed themselves with 
much less caution on this subject. Some hâve re- 
garded the crédit of Christianity as in a way bound 
up with the site selected in the time of Constantine, 
and even Sir C. Wilson says he would attach more 
weight to the opinion of Constantine's contem- 
poraries than to the conjectures of modem scholars, 
if it is a question of conjecture. On the other hand, 
those who hâve been fortunate enough in modem 
times to hit upon places which seem to them to cor- 

[318] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

respond to the requisite conditions are apt to express 
themselves very positively; so Colonel Conder, 
whose suggestion is marked on modem maps, re- 
gards it as a happy occurrence that the sacred site 
was trodden by the Crusaders without knowledge of 
its importance, and so spared the terrible scènes that 
were enacted at the taking of Jérusalem in the im- 
médiate neighbourhood of the site selected by Con- 
stantine. Scepticism has once or twice been ex- 
pressed on the identity of the présent location of the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre with that of Con- 
stantine's building; but for this there appears to be a 
continuous tradition, interrupted once or twice for a 
very few years only, not for a period during which 
there would be any probability of the site being for- 
gotten. Of the interruption of the tradition before 
the time of Constantine there is no question, but we 
hâve no accurate knowledge of the length of the 
break. In a city built on the plain, a site is easily 
rendered unrecognisable by such convulsions as be- 
fell Jérusalem and its neighbourhood in the three 
centuries which elapsed before Constantine built his 
church ; but on such ground as is occupied by Jérusa- 
lem, landmarks are somewhat more permanent. 

In the period which followed the conversion of 
Constantine Jérusalem was adorned with many re- 
ligious édifices, and the whole land began to teem 
with monasteries and the abodes of anchorites. 
There is a record of a strange attempt made by the 
Emperor Julian to restore the Jewish Temple on the 
area which probably contained a disused sanctuary 

[319] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of Capitoline Jupiter, but for some reason or other 
this scheme was not carried out. The practice of 
pilgrimage to the sacred sites grew in popularity, 
and owing to various inconveniences that arose was 
at times discouraged, though with little efïect, by the 
Fathers of the Church. The Empress Eudocia is 
said to hâve rebuilt the walls of the city, and to hâve 
founded various religious and philanthropie institu- 
tions both in and around the place. More impor- 
tance attaches to the buildings of the Emperor Jus- 
tinian, who erected a hospital for sick pilgrims and 
finished the Church of the Virgin w^hich the Patri- 
arch Elias had begun. Twelve years were occupied 
in the érection of this édifice, of which contemporary 
writers speak in enthusiastic terms. The platform 
on the Temple area selected for the building not be- 
ing large enough, it was artificially increased by 
arches on substructures. New methods were de- 
vised for bringing stones and columns of a size vast 
enough for the building contemplated. The hospi- 
tal was to contain 200 beds, and substantial revenues 
were settled upon it. 

The Church of St. Mary in some way escaped de- 
struction, when in 614 the nearer East was invaded 
by Chosroes — that last dying exploit of the Sassanian 
Empire, whose days were numbered. The Church 
of the Holy Sepulchre was not equally fortunate, as 
it, with ail its contents, was burnt to the ground. 
The malice of the Persian invaders is said to hâve 
been directed by Jews, who, as usual, were destined 
to reap no permanent advantage from the catas- 

[320] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

trophe. If the figures of the historians are to be 
trusted, the massacre efïected by the Persians must 
hâve been on as great a scale as any of the events of 
the kind witnessed by Jérusalem; 90,000 Christians 
of both sexes are said to hâve perished, and 65,000 
corpses were presently gathered and deposited in a 
single cave outside the Western Gâte. 

The news of this terrible blow to the Byzantine 
Empire penetrated into Arabia, where the Prophet 
Mohammed, still at Meccah, foretold that the 
Persian victory would shortly be foUowed by a de- 
feat. The rebuilding of the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre appears to hâve commenced almost as soon 
as the Persians had departed, the name of Modestus, 
superior of the monastery of Theodosius, being con- 
nected with this restoration, which took ten years to 
accomplish. Mohammed's prophecy was fulfilled 
fourteen years after its occasion, and in 628 the con- 
queror Heraclius visited the city on pilgrimage, and 
the part taken by the Jews in the former disaster was 
now visited on them heavily at the time when theîr 
brethren in Arabia were sufïering persécution at the 
hands of another enemy. The impérial visit had 
doubtless the effect of causing the city to rise fast 
from its ruins, and a few years later a calculation, 
which may rest on tradition or conjecture, estimâtes 
the population of Jérusalem at 12,000 Greeks and 
50,000 natives, about the number of human beings 
which the city with its suburbs contains at the prés- 
ent day. 

But the restoration of Christian rule in Jérusalem 

[ 323 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

was not destined to be permanent. A power of 
which there had been no previous indication was 
springing up at the time, destined to give Jérusalem 
a new lease of existence as a sacred city, while ban- 
ishing Christianity, at least as a dominant religion, 
from the nearer East. On Mohammed's mind the 
sanctity of Jérusalem had in his youth been im- 
pressed by those Jewish or Christian story-tellers 
with whom he had ass'ociated in his travels as a 
leader or as a follower of a caravan. And to him it 
had been portrayed as somewhat similar to the 
Bethel of Jacob's dream; the place where there was 
a ladder between heaven and earth, whereby visitors 
could ascend or descend. For him who was to be per- 
mitted to approach the Deity's abode Jérusalem was 
the starting point. Thither the Koran tells us the 
Prophet made a night journey from Meccah; and as 
dreamland is bound by no conditions of space or 
time, it was the Temple — long ruined and even pol- 
luted, but still the Furthest Sanctuary, furthest from 
us and so nearest to Allah — whither he was taken; 
it was there that — according to the tradition — he 
mounted the Pegasus that was to convey him to the 
upper world and its seven storeys. Whether the tra- 
dition that gives us the détails of this eventful 
journey is ail of it or any of it Mohammed's state- 
ment, cannot now be known ; ail that concerns history 
is that it was believed. Jérusalem was to the fol- 
lowers of Mohammed what Sinai was to ancient 
Israël, more than the unknown Mount of the Trans- 
figuration ever became to Christians; and yet, just 

[324] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

as most Islamic institutions are coloured by some- 
thing out of both the preceding Systems, so the 
Furthest Mosque bas associations similar to those that 
belong to each of thèse mountains. Starting thence 
the Prophet associated with some of his less mighty 
forerunners, and received the honours due to his 
worth; and thither he brought down some of the 
législation which through the âges is distinctive of 
Islam. So long as Mohammed was bent on holding 
no compromise with Meccan idolatry, it was to the 
Furthest Sanctuary that his followers were com- 
manded to turn when they prayed. Only when cir- 
cumstances rendered it necessary to conciliate Pagans 
and exasperate Jews, was Meccah substituted as the 
direction of prayer. 

Fourteen years after Mohammed's flight from 
Meccah came the Moslem conquest of Syria, decided 
by the battle of Yarmuk. The Patriarch of Jéru- 
salem was invited to deliver up the city without ré- 
sistance to the Caliph's gênerai, Abu Ubaidah, and 
since the terms of capitulation included security for 
life and property, religious toleration, and involved 
only the payment of a poU-tax and certain other by 
no means vexations duties, not much difficulty was 
made about accepting them. As the Christians, it is 
said, declined to treat with anyone but the Caliph 
himself, perhaps doubting the power of any sub- 
ordinate to make treaties, Omar, the second follower 
of the Prophet, then reigning at Medinah, decided 
to accept this condition, and came to receive the 
capitulation of the sacred city. His name has ever 

[325] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

since clung to it, in connection with the Mosque of 
Omar, often falsely located. 

From 636 till July 15, 1099, the city remaîned 
under Moslem government; the nature of which 
renders religious toleration very variable, since it 
dépends on the taste of the ruler for the time being 
whether non-Moslems shall be molested or not. 
And in such a city as Jérusalem, the possession of 
which could not fail tobe an object of keen désire 
to Jews and Christians, the tendency to fanaticism 
must always hâve been greater than in any part of 
the Moslem world, except perhaps the sanctuaries 
of Meccah and Medinah. 

The Moslem conquest tended, therefore, to secure 
to Jérusalem sanctity similar to that which it had en- 
joyed under Byzantine rule, though to the Moslems 
it was one of three sanctuaries, to only one of which, 
and that not Jérusalem, pilgrimage was enjoined. 
iWhen in Umayyad times the Caliphate gravitated 
towards Damascus, Jérusalem ran a chance of be- 
coming the central sanctuary, perhaps even the 
capital of Islam; but this prospect was found to be 
incapable of réalisation, and Islam would scarcely 
hâve survived such a shifting of its religious centre. 
If any place in Palestine could supplant Meccah, it 
should rather hâve been Hebron, the city of Ibrahim 
or Abraham, the mythical founder of the Islamic or 
Hanefite faith. The doctrine of the Koran con- 
nected the sacrifice of Abraham's son not with 
Mount Moriah but with the neighbourhood of 
Meccah, where, indeed, the Ka'bah was supposed to 

[326] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

hâve been rebuîlt by Abraham and Ishmael; the 
heroes of Jérusalem were persons in the main 
respected indeed, but not of primary importance for 
Islam. 

In accordance with the territorial division which 
the Arabs took over from the Byzantines, Jérusalem 
was situated in the Jund (or army) of Filastin (Pal- 
estine), of which the capital was Ramlah, in the time 
of the Caliph Sulaiman (715-717) who founded it, 
and long after; when Ramlah had been destroyed by 
Saladin in 1187, Jérusalem inherited the right to 
the title of capital in this province. But the history 
of Syria was chequered, and as the conquest of the 
Abbasids had meant the loss of the metropolis to that 
country, it had a tendency to fall to those usurpers 
whose efforts gradually led to the establishment of a 
western Caliphate, to which Syria regularly be- 
longed. Professor Palmer observes that the ravages 
of the Carmathians in Arabia, where, in 929, Meccah 
itself was pillaged, and the Black Stone removed, led 
to Jérusalem being for a time the chief resort of 
Moslem pilgrims, a circumstance which also tended 
to cause a recrudescence of persécution. 

The annals of a cathedral town, especially when it 
is not the capital of a province, are unlikely to be ex- 
citing; and the scantiness of the annals of Jérusalem 
before the Frankish conquest and after it is easily 
explicable. Its history is little more than a record 
of damage and repair to the Christian and the Mos- 
lem sanctuaries. This, as will be seen, is fairly well 
recorded, but the governors of the place were not 

[327] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

sufficiently important for chronicles of theîr doings 
to be kept. The présent condition of the city, in 
which the Christian feasts are the matter of real 
importance, which the Moslems, whose religious con- 
cern they are not, hâve to regulate, is likely to reflect 
the State of afïairs that has been normal since the 
Moslem conquest. The Moslem is a casual visitor, 
the Christian a visitor to be reckoned on. He is not 
a welcome guest, but as a show place lives by its 
visitors, it is unwise to discourage him too much. 
On the other hand, a place of pilgrimage loses some- 
thing of its attractiveness, if it be too accessible ; ex- 
ploits over which no risk is incurred are of little 
honour. So long then as the Christian pilgrims were 
only moderately humiliated and fleeced, Jérusalem 
could prosper. 

Mr. Lestrange, whose " Palestine under the Mos- 
lems " contains extracts f rom Moslem writers both 
before and after the Crusaders, lucidly arranged and 
interpreted with référence to the présent topography 
of Jérusalem, has drawn attention to the descriptions 
of Jérusalem by Moslems who wrote at the end of the 
tenth and in the middle of the eleventh century 
respectively. The first of thèse was a native of the 
place, whose description is somewhat coloured by 
patriotism, and by the theory of the heavenly Jéru- 
salem. The second, a Persian visitor, of excellent 
repute as a writer, estimated the population at twenty 
thousand, and fancied that as many more Moslem 
pilgrims sometimes came in the month of pilgrimage. 

Numbers of Christians also came on pilgrimage, 

[328] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

and the Jews had a synagogue which was to them 
what the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was to the 
Christians; the native writer of half a century before 
declared that thèse two communities had ail the 
power. One can hear similar complaints f rom Mos- 
lems now in Turkish cities. Both praise the place 
for its cleanliness; which, however, they rightly at- 
tribute to the geographical position of the city, and 
to the mode in which the streets are laid out, which 
permits impurities to be carried down by the rain. 
Of the list of eight gâtes made in the tenth century 
only one, the Bab al-Amud (called by Europeans 
the Damascus Gâte) has preserved its name up to the 
présent time. The sites of the remainder are not 
difficult of identification. Perhaps some of thèse 
may be on the same sites as gâtes mentioned by 
Nehemiah, though the variations in the élévation of 
the soil renders this doubtful. 

In spite of the assertions of thèse writers the con- 
dition of the Christians within Jérusalem, as in other 
places where Moslems were in power, was precarious 
in the highest degree. They were in a way hostages 
for the good behaviour of their coreligionists out- 
side; and activity on the part of the Christian powers 
might be avenged on them. Moreover, Islam was 
lacerated by internai wars, and the contributions 
which the différent aspirants to power required for 
the support of their armies could more easily and 
conveniently be levied on unbelievers than on be- 
lievers. The Crusaders were preceded by armies of 
pilgrims, large enough to inspire suspicion, though 

[329] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

not of sufficient size to attempt violence with much 
hope of success. The destruction of the Church of 
the Holy Sepulchre in loio by the mad Hakim had 
aroused some indignation in Europe, and the Seljuke 
rule, which at Baghdad was accompanied at first by 
violent disorders, had put the Christians of Palestine 
in a worse plight than before. The Jews, whether 
truly or not, were supposed to get at the ear of Mos- 
lem sovereigns, and avehge the ill-treatment of their 
brethren in Europe by falsely accusing the Chris- 
tians of the East. Yet ail the wrongs of the branches 
of the Church subject to Moslems, and ail the 
humiliations to which pilgrims from the West were 
subjected, would hâve produced no efifect, had not 
one man been found gifted with the enthusiasm, the 
éloquence,, and the energy to transform sentiment into 
words and action. The historians of the Crusades 
rightly give Peter the Hermit a place beside the 
most powerful movers of human masses that are 
known to famé. That such a man should hâve 
proved but an indiffèrent fîghter is not surprising; 
crédit must be given him for the possession of more 
organising ability than many mère rousers of en- 
thusiasm hâve been able to display. 

The movement started by Peter the Hermit led to 
the foundation of the Latin kingdom of Jérusalem, 
of which lucid accounts hâve been given by Conder, 
Palmer and many others. On Friday, July 15, 1049, 
after a siège of forty days, Jérusalem was taken by 
the forces led by Godfrey of Bouillon, who himself 
was the first to scale the wall. His scaling tower, 

[330] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

whîch had been vainly tried on the east of the cîty, 
was advanced with greater efïect on the north side 
of the wall, near the gâte called after Herod; and 
when once the city had been entered on this side, the 
forces of Raymond of Toulouse entered without diffi- 
culty from the west and south. The vanquished 
Moslems sought refuge partly in the Haram area, 
and partly in the Tower of David. In the former 
place a massacre took place, in which the slain are 
estimated by Arabie writers, accustomed to exag- 
gerate, at 70,000; while the other refugees appear to 
hâve been sent in safety to Askalon by the efiforts of 
Count Raymond. The impression created by the 
news in the Moslem world was vast. An attempt 
was made at Baghdad, its centre, to start a rival cru- 
sade for the delivery of the captured city, but the 
time was not yet ripe amid Moslem dissensions for 
such an enterprise. 

Godf rey was appointed ruler of the reclaimed city, 
where he refused on religious grounds to bear the 
title king. He proceeded to transform the mosques 
into what many of them had been before, Christian 
churches, and to arrange on western lines for the 
proper maintenance of thèse as also of those churches 
which the Christians had under Moslem domination 
been allowed to retain. A patriarch was soon ap- 
pointed without référence to either the local Church 
or to the Pope; and a code of laws gradually drawn 
up which has won much admiration, as displaying a 
spirit far in advance of the time to which it belongs. 
For military purposes a modification of the feudal 

[333] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

System of Europe was introduced in the new king- 
dom, which was to include ail Palestine, with certain 
vassaldoms beyond its confines. 

Among the most remarkable phenomena of the 
Crusades was the establishment of the orders at once 
military and ecclesiastical of the Templars and the 
Knights of St. John. The Templars were lodged in 
Aksa Mosque, which at first was used as a royal 
palace; when in 1118 the Order was founded, King 
Baldwin removed to other quarters, and the knights 
were housed in what they called the Temple of Solo- 
mon, to which they made various additions for reli- 
gions and other needs. The Muristan, now incor- 
porated in the recently built German Church, retains 
the memory of the Hospice of the Knights of St. 
John, who there had two buildings of this nature, 
one for maies and another for females. They were 
not the first buildings of the sort for the use of Chrîs- 
tians even since Moslem domination; since the good 
relations between Charlemagne and the famous 
Harun al-Rashid had rendered it possible for the 
former to found a hospice in Jérusalem, and in gên- 
erai obtain tolerable conditions for the Christians 
résident there. A third Order, the Teutonic, also 
had a hospital of St. Mary in Jérusalem, founded 
after that of St. John's Knights, for the accommoda- 
tion of German pilgrims. 

The theory of the Frankish kings appears to hâve 
been to exclude Moslems f rom Jérusalem, just as non- 
Moslems were excluded from the Arabian sanc- 
tuaries. In order to replenish the devastated city the 

[334] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

second king, Baldwin I., brought into it a number of 
Syrians from villages beyond Jordan. The needs of 
trade appear to hâve caused the admission of a cer- 
tain number of Jews into the city during Frankish 
times, since a traveller found two hundred Jewish 
dyers living under the Tower of David. The vari- 
ons branches of the Oriental Church, Abyssinians, 
Armenians, Copts, Georgians and the différent sects 
of Syrians appear to hâve ail found représentation 
in the Frankish city, just as they fînd it now. 

Whereas at one time it was supposed that the West 
owed much of its architecture to the East, the con- 
verse is now very generally believed. " The monu- 
ments," says Colonel Conder, " which the Latins lef t 
behind them attest their mastery in the art of build- 
ing. The masonry was far more truly eut than that 
of the Byzantines. The slender clustered pillars, the 
bold sharp relief of the foliaged capitals, the intri- 
cate designs of cornices witness their skill as masons 
and sculptors." The authors of ^^ The Survey of 
Western Palestine " hâve made out a list of thirty- 
seven churches known to hâve existed in Jérusalem 
or in the vicinity of the city walls in the twelfth cen- 
tury. ^' Nor," they add, " is this ail that remains 
of the crusading town, for wherever the explorer 
walks through the Holy City he encounters mediaeval 
remains. The whole of the présent Méat Bazaar, 
adjoining the Hospital of St. John on the east, is cru- 
sading work, representing the old Street of Mal- 
cuisinat; and the walls of the street leading thence 
towards the Damascus Gâte, together with a fine 

[335] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

vaulted building on the east side, are of mediaeval 
masonry. The présent Tower of David is the Cru- 
sading Castle of the Pisans, which was rebuilt as soon 
as the city was taken by Godfrey. The so-called 
Kal'at Jalut in the northwest angle of the présent city 
is the mediaeval Tancred's Tower." 

The Frankish kingdom of Jérusalem lasted eighty- 
eight years, and the throne was occupied during that 
time by nine sovereigns, one of them an infant, and 
more than one under the influence of a woman. Ap- 
parently western government of eastern states can 
only be carried on successfully when the western in- 
vader is not a colonist, but a temporary occupant, to 
be replaced after a time by some one f resh from the 
West; the colonist speedily dégénérâtes and cannot 
even cope with the indigenous inhabitant. Although 
the State founded by the Crusaders was perhaps less 
disturbed by wars and dangers than the ordinary his- 
toriés of the time might lead the reader to believe, 
and the condition of Moslems subject to the Frankish 
king was not intolérable, the new kingdom took no 
root, and it is agreed by students that the efïect 
produced by the Crusaders on Europe was far greater 
than anything which they achieved in Asia. It bas 
been pointed out that many Arabie words remain in 
European languages, as mementoes of that enterprise^ 
whereas few, if any Frankish words bave got into the 
vernaculars of Syria or Egypt in conséquence of the 
présence of the knights. When once the différences 
between the sections of the Islamic world had been 
appeased by the great Saladin, the éjection of the 

[336] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

Franks cease'd to be impossible. The final battle, of 
Tiberias or Hattin, fought July 2, 1187, ended with 
the army of the King of Jérusalem being annihilated 
by Saladin, and the King himself, Guy of Lusignan, 
falling into the Moslem leader's hands. The defeat 
appears to hâve been due to incompétent leadership 
on the Christian side, not to brilliant generalship on 
the part of Saladin. The efïect, however, was the 
same. Town after town now fell back into Moslem 
hands, and after a futile attempt at résistance Jéru- 
salem was given back by capitulation to Saladin on 
October 2 of the same year. Few events in the his- 
tory of Islam are more honourable than Saladin's 
entry into Jérusalem without massacre and without 
pillage. According to the Mohammedan historian 
of Jérusalem the number of the inhabitants at the 
time was 100,000, from whom ransom was demanded 
at the rate of ten dinars per man, five per woman, and 
one per child. Guards were stationed at the gâtes, 
and only those who paid their ransom allowed to go 
out. Yet several managed to climb down the walls, 
and many were released on one pretext or another, 
the Sultan being kind-hearted. 

The recovery of Jérusalem by the Moslem Sultan 
counted in the East as no less an exploit than its con- 
quest had counted in the West, and pilgrimages to 
Jérusalem commenced from ail Islamic countries. 
The Frankish résidents sold their goods for what- 
ever they would fetch, being anxious to quit a Mos- 
lem city; and it was suggested to the Sultan to seize 
the gold and silver in the churches, as not having 

[ 337 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

been încluded by the capitulation, but he, anxious for 
the fair famé of Islam in Europe, refused to profit 
by this suggestion. Owing to the crusade for the 
second recovery of Jérusalem in which the English 
king, Richard I., played so noteworthy a part, 
Saladin deemed it advisable to strengthen the forti- 
fications of the city, and for that purpose came and 
took up his abode in the hospital near the Church of 
the Holy Sepulchre, now called Muristan. Artisans 
were sent for from Mosul, with whom 2000 Chris- 
tian prisoners were compelled to work; a séries of 
towers were constructed from the Jafïa to the Damas- 
cus Gâte, a trench being at the same time excavated in 
the rock, whence the stones were used in erecting the 
towers. The Sultan himself set the example of 
carrying stones on his saddle, and the whole Moslem 
population, including ecclesiastical and military 
dignitaries, helped in the work. In this way opéra- 
tions that might bave taken, we are told, many years, 
were accomplished very quickly. The English 
forces did not actually besiege Jérusalem on this oc- 
casion, as a treaty was made between Richard and 
Saladin, securing certain advantages for the Chris- 
tians in the holy city. Whence its great number of 
Moslem inhabitants had come we are not told; but 
probably the state of war caused many to be homc- 
less, and of the Moslem pilgrims attracted by the 
recovery of the place many may bave been induced 
to remain by the favourable conditions on which 
property could be purchased; and the collèges of 
Baghdad must bave been turning out numerous jur-^ 

[338], 















-^^^ •-■. y ^^ 



TOWER ANTONIA, JERUSALEM 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

ists and theologians anxious to be placed. A certaîn 
number of Christians, we are told, asked and obtained 
leave to continue residing in the city on the terms 
granted by Moslem rulers to tolerated cuits. 

The work of Saladin was not to remain undis- 
turbed. In 1219, when Damietta was being besieged 
by the Franks, Isa, called al-Muazzam, who had in- 
herited Syria from his father al-Adil, fearing that 
Jérusalem might again be taken by the Christians, 
sent a party of masons and sappers to destroy it. 
This measure was foUowed by a gênerai stampede 
of the inhabitants, who disposed of their property at 
ruinous priées. The people who remained assembled 
in solemn supplication at the two great sanctuaries on 
the Temple area, where this sovereign had himself 
carried out many works of décoration, besides found- 
ing schools for the study of law and grammar in the 
vicinity. Doubtless the idea of this prince was the 
humane and advanced one that the only way to avoid 
disputes between the two religions was to render the 
city common property, each sect having f ree access to 
its own sanctuary — a condition which would be ren- 
dered impossible by the présence of walls and fort- 
resses, which must necessarily be in the possession of 
one party, only too likely to tyrannise over the other. 
The prince should hâve lived either much earlier or 
much later for his views to be practical. 

Some authorities go so far as to assert that his 
workmen reduced the whole city to a heap of ruins 
with the exception of the great Christian and Mos- 
lem sanctuaries and the Tower of David. The de- 

[340] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

molition of thèse walls shortly afterwards caused the 
failure of negotiations for the restoration of Jéru- 
salem to the Franks, as an indemnity was demanded 
which the Egyptian Sultan refused to pay. In 1229 
owing to the quarrels between the représentatives of 
the Ayyubid family, the Emperor Frédéric II. suc- 
ceeded in obtaining the ruined city from the Egyp- 
tian Sultan, on condition that the walls should not be 
rebuilt, and that there should be no interférence with 
the sanctuaries on the Temple area. Thèse terms 
naturally gave little satisfaction to either of the con- 
tending religions. For eleven years the Franks held 
the city under them, when al-Nasir, prince of Kerak, 
on the pretence that the conditions under which the 
sacred city was held were being violated by its forti- 
fication, attacked the place, and levelled to the ground 
the Tower of David which al-Muazzam had spared. 
But for four years afterwards (1243) on the arrivai 
of the Duke of Cornwall, brother of Henry III., 
with a Company of English Crusaders, the former 
treaty was renewed, the Prince of Kerak who was in 
possession finding it désirable to obtain the aid of the 
Franks for purposes of his own. It was not, how- 
ever, to remain long in European hands. The next 
year the Egyptian Sultan obtained the help of the 
subjects of the Khwarizm-Shah, driven from their 
country by the Mongol hordes, and 20,000 of thèse 
appeared before Jérusalem, whose defences had only 
begun to rise after their complète démolition. The 
Khwarizmians, whom history represents as little less 
Savage than the Mongols, swept away the Christian 

[341] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

population, beheaded the priests ministering at tHe 
altar in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, andi 
wrought great havoc in that édifice ; the graves of the 
kings there buried were opened, and their ashes scat- 
tered, and other churches in and about the city were 
desecrated or demolished. Since the year 1244, 
Jérusalem has remained in Moslem hands. 

With other possessions of the Ayyubids, Jérusalem 
was handed on to the- Mameluke dynasties, whence 
it came into possession of the Turks. The attitude 
adopted by thèse dynasties towards Jews and Chris- 
tians was ordinarily tolérant, and both Jews and Mel- 
chite Christians undoubtedly received better treat- 
ment under their rule than under that of the Franks. 
At no time since the abandonment of the Crusades 
has the City of David been the focus of public at- 
tention in both East and West, as it was when Europe 
and Asia were contending for its possession. It sinks 
into provincial mediocrity, and is entirely over- 
shadowed by Cairo or Constantinople, the capital 
whence it dérives its ruler. Even its spécial histor- 
ians hâve little to say about it f rom this time. To the 
impérial historians it is chiefly of interest as a place 
of exile or retirement of eminent men who com- 
memorate their résidence there by some benefac- 
tion. 

The ruined fortifications appear to hâve lain in 
heaps till the time of the Ottoman Sultan Sulaiman, 
the builder of the existing walls which bear date 1 542. 
To the Christians the chief interest of the place lay 
in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; to the Mos- 

[342] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

lems in the Temple area. For thèse two sanctuaries, 
Jérusalem might be said to exist. 

In order to be true to the title of thîs book, a little 
should be said about the work done by the Mame- 
luke Sultans for the décoration of the city. Baibars 
I., who built a mosque over the supposed Tomb of 
Moses, is said to hâve instituted the festival in honour 
of the " Prophet Moses," which to this day serves as 
a sort of counterpoise to the Greek Easter. He re- 
newed ^' the stonework which is above the marble " 
of the Dôme of the Rock. Outside the city on the 
northwest he built in the year 1264 a khan or hos- 
pice, which he adorned with a door taken from the 
Fatimide palace in Cairo, and on which he settled 
the revenues of several villages in the neighbourhood 
of Damascus. The building contained a mill and a 
bakehouse, as well as a mosque. Its purpose was to 
harbour visitors (perhaps belated visitors) to the 
city, and an arrangement was made for the distribu- 
tion of bread at the door. In Mujir al-din's time the 
revenues had already been sequestrated, and no more 
bread was handed out. Baibars also repaired the 
Dôme of the Chain. 

The Sultan Ketbogha is credited with having done 
some repairs to the stonework of the Dôme of the 
Rock, and having rebuilt the wall of the Temple 
area which overlooks the cemetery of the Bab al- 
Rahmah in the year 1299. ^i^ successor Lajin re- 
newed the mihrab of David in the southern wall near 
the Cradle of Jésus. 

The great builder Mohammed al-Nasir naturally 

[343] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

left some memorials of his taste in Jérusalem. He 
f aced the front of the Aksa Mosque with marble, and 
opened in it two Windows which are to the right and 
left of the mihrab. This was done in the year 1330- 
1331. He had the dômes of the two chief édifices 
regilt, so well, says Mujir al-din, that, though in his 
time 180 years had passed since the opération, the 
work still looked brand-new. He rebuilt the Gâte of 
the Cotton-merchants in very elaborate style. 

The Sultan Sha'ban, grandson of Nasir, built the 
minaret near the Gâte of the Tribes in the year 1367. 
He renewed the wooden doors of the Aksa Mosque, 
and the arches over the western stairs in the Court of 
the Dôme, opposite to the Bab al-Nazir, nine years 
later. The next year the Franciscans on Mount Sion 
were massacred by this Sultan's order. 

The great Sultan Barkuk built the Mueddin's 
bench opposite the mihrab in the Dôme of the Rock, 
and repaired the Sultan's Pool outside Jérusalem on 
the west. The author quoted remarks that it had 
gone to ruin and was useless in his day. In 1394 a 
governor named Shihab al-din al-Yaghmuri, ap- 
pointed by Barkuk, placed on the western door of the 
Dôme a marble slab containing a déclaration that 
varions imposts instituted by former governors had 
been remitted. 

The following Sultan Faraj placed on the wall of 
the Bab al-Silsilah a slab declaring that in future the 
Sultan's représentative at Meccah and Medinah must 
be a différent person f rom the governor of Jérusalem, 
which was to form an administrative unit with 

[344] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

Hebron. The effect of this edict was quite tem- 
porary. 

The Sultan Jakmak on the occasion of his turning 
the Christians out of the Tomb of David in the year 
1452 instituted a severe inquisition into the monas- 
teries of Palestine, and, in conséquence of this, 
damage was donc to the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
chre and other Christian édifices. New construc- 
tions raised by the Franciscans in the Monastery of 
Mount Sion were demolished, and a chapel erected 
by them near their cloister was in 1491 destroyed by 
order of Kaietbai. 

We may now condense the history of the two chief 
sites. The Temple area, containing the Dôme of the 
Rock and the Furthest Mosque, counts, as we hâve 
seen, as one of the three great sanctuaries of Islam. 
On the Israelitish temples that once stood there much 
has been written, and ingénions reconstructions of 
them are exhibited by the heirs of the late Dr. Shick; 
it does not come within our scope to do more than 
allude to them. When Jérusalem was taken by the 
Moslems, the church erected by Justinian was on 
part of the area; and a late writer who narrâtes the 
érection of the Moslem temple, states that Omar 
prayed in this building. For the rest the account re- 
produced by E. H. Palmer of the founding of the 
Furthest Mosque has been shown by Mr. Lestrange 
to be apocryphal. It belongs to a period after the 
recovery of Jérusalem from the Franks, when the 
Arabs produced many an historical romance, and the 
exploits of the early heroes of Islam were adorned 

[345] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

with divers fabulous détails. According to thèse 
Works Omar, coming to the Sacred City to receive 
the capitulation of the Patriarch, demands to be 
shown the Furthest Sanctuary. He is taken to the 
Church of the Résurrection, but tells his guide that 
he lies; he is then conducted to another church, and 
again refuses to be cajoled; fînally, he is brought to 
the Temple area, which, from Christian spite against 
the Jews, is covered so thickly with refuse that it can 
scarcely be approached. The Caliph proceeds in 
great humility to clear away the refuse with his 
cloak, and his followers aid him. Even when this 
work of purification has been performed the area has 
to be three times cleansed by rain from heaven before 
prayer on it is permitted. Apparently this story is in 
the main an etymological myth, to account for the 
name Kumamah (sweepings) applied by Moslems 
not to the Temple area, but to the Church of 
the Résurrection (Kiyamah). The connection of 
Omar's name with the Dôme of the Rock is probably 
due to the tradition of his clearing the site. A 
curious description of a building by him above the 
Rock has been preserved by Adamnan, Abbot of St. 
Columba, as related to him by a French pilgrim, 
Bishop Arculphus. He states that the Mosque of 
the Saracens was a square building, put together of 
planks and beams yet large enough to contain 3000 
worshippers. 

The building by Omar of a Mosque in Jérusalem 
is, however, not recorded by early Arabie historians, 
though Mr. Lestrange has discovered an allusion to 

[346] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

it in the Byzantine chronicler, Theophanes. Of that 
which now bears his name the Arabie geographers 
appear to take no notice; it is a meagre building, 
probably meant to commemorate a site on which the 
Caliph said his prayers, he having magnanimously, 
according to the legend, refused to do this in the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, for fear this might 
afterwards give the Moslems a title to the place; a 
story which implies that Omar possessed a remark- 
able power of projecting himself into the future. 
That the Moslems who took Jérusalem did not seize 
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is doubtless due 
to the fact that this site could hâve no interest for 
them, since their System dénies both the death and 
résurrection of the Christian Saviour; the very name 
Holy Sepulchre involves according to them mendac- 
ity almost comparable to that of the Cretans. The 
Temple area contains two sacred buildings of pri- 
mary importance, the Dôme of the Rock which is 
in the centre, and the Furthest Mosque. Both are 
ascribed to the Caliph Abd al-Malik, who reigned 
f rom 685-705, and who had a political reason for en- 
deavouring to make Jérusalem once more supersede 
Meccah as the great place of pilgrimage. Belong- 
ing to the Uma)ryad dynasty, which, though de- 
scended from the most stubborn of the Prophet's 
opponents, had, through the ability of Mu'awiyah, 
the fîrst Umayyad Caliph, not only usurped the 
Prophet's throne, but made it a hereditary possession, 
he had the same reasons as Jéroboam of old for wish- 
ing to divert the stream of pilgrimage from the place 

[349] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

where both objects and persons would remind the 
visitors that their sovereign was seated on a throne to 
which others had a better claim. The worship of 
a stone was held by the ancients to be the main article 
of Arabian religion, and to this sentiment Moham- 
med had to give way, though Omar was notoriously 
reluctant to retain the ceremony of kissing the Black 
Stone, which was the nucleus of the Meccan Ka'bah, 
the surrounding sanctuary, and of Islam. Abd al- 
Malik, like most of the Umayyads, considering reli- 
gion as of political value only, fancied he could 
satisfy his co-religionists if he provided them with a 
stone and a sanctuary round it, and appears deliber- 
ately to hâve started the cuit of the Rock round which 
he in the year 691 built the Dôme which was to cor- 
respond with the Ka'bah, ordaining at the same time 
a ceremony similar to the time-honoured circuit 
round the Meccan shrine. Like Jéroboam he went 
so far as to forbid the pilgrimage prescribed in the 
Koran, and substituted his own for it. The second 
founder of the Abbasid line of Caliphs, whose capital 
Baghdad became world-famous, made a similar en- 
deavour, and for the same reason ; the fear that a visit 
to Meccah might turn Moslems into partisans of the 
Prophet's descendants. But even in the year 691 
the ordinances of Islam were too deeply rooted to 
permit of so tremendous an innovation; and later 
writers, regarding even the attempt as inconsistent 
with ordinary prudence, suppose the sagacious Ca- 
liph's purpose to hâve been to counteract the efïect 
produced on men's minds by the magnificence of 

[350] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

Christian churches existing at the time at Jérusalem 
and elsewhere. 

It should be observed that some eminent authori- 
ties identify the Dôme of the Rock with Justinian's 
Church of S. Sophia, and it has even been suggested 
that the Rock is itself one of the sites regarded as 
Golgotha. This opinion has, however, few sup- 
porters. 

With regard to the Stone it appears that nothing is 
known of it prior to the statement of the Bordeaux 
Pilgrim, who visited Jérusalem A. D.^ 333, and asserts 
that near the two equestrian statues of the Emperor 
Hadrian still standing on the Temple Area there was 
a pierced stone which it was the custom of the Jews 
to anoint with oil once in the year, when they wailed 
and tore their garments, after which cérémonies they 
retired. The process of pouring oil on stones be- 
longs to the pre-Mosaic religion of the patriarchs; it 
has no countenance in the law of Moses. We fînd, 
however, that according to the Moslem tradition the 
anointing of the stone was ordered by the Umayyad 
Abd al-Malik, and continued till his dynasty closed. 
It would seem, then, that what the Dôme of the Rock 
restored was not a Mosaic cuit, but one which be- 
longs to a différent stratum of the Israelitish religion, 
which somehow was continued, probably in secret 
during the domination of Judaism, and after the 
destruction of the Temple was revived. The ordi- 
nary theory identifies the rock with the site of the 
altar of burned sacrifice, whence the blood is sup- 
posed to hâve been conveyed into a chamber below 

[351] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the rock, whence it was drained into the Kedron. 
Other suggestions hâve been made by eminent 
explorers. 

The name of Abd al-Malik lies concealed in the 
inscription above the cornice of the octagonal colon- 
nade which supports the Dôme. For Abd al-Malik 
the name of Mamun, who reigned from 813 to 833, 
has been substituted, the altération being still notice- 
able in the crowding of the letters, and the différent 
tint of the tiles. The person who made this altéra- 
tion forbore to alter the date also, whence Mamun is 
said to build this Dôme in the year 691 (72 A. H.), 
nearly a century before his birth. From M. van 
Berchem's Corpus of Cairene inscriptions we hâve 
already examples of this mode of altération, which 
reminds us of the treatment by ancient compilers of 
the documents which they embodied in their books, 
resulting in contradictory statements being left side 
by side. M. van Berchem thinks that the bronze 
plates above the northern and eastern doors belong 
to the period of Abd al-Malik, but in thèse cases both 
names and dates hâve been altered, the latter to the 
year 216 A. H. (813 A. D.) 

The quotations of Mr. Lestrange show that the 
shape and appearance of the Dôme hâve varied very 
slightly since its foundation by Abd al-Malik, though 
during the period that has elapsed it has frequently 
sufïered from earthquake, and the épisode of the oc- 
cupation of Jérusalem by the Franks might hâve 
been expected to leave a permanent mark upon it. 
The chief efïect of the Frankish possession would 

[352] 




DOME OF THE ROCK, INTERIOR 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

seem to be found in the chipping away of pièces of 
the rock to be taken to Europe as relies; the priests 
in charge of the Rock being amply paid for thèse 
fragments. This abuse is said to hâve led to its being 
paved over as a précaution; Saladin ordered the 
pavement to be removed, the Moslem theory of 
sacred objects being différent from the Christian. 
The accounts given by différent visitors vary some- 
what as to the number of columns, but in most 
matters are in striking agreement with the présent 
condition of the édifice. Abd al-Malik undoubtedly 
employed Byzantine artists for his building, and to 
them is due the extremely rich mosaics which cover 
the arcades above the columns, form a wide border 
round the dôme and fill the spaces between the Win- 
dows. The cubes are not only of glass coloured and 
gilt, but of ebony and mother-of-pearl, which latter 
material gives a lovely translucent effect in the dim 
light beneath the dôme. The designs are chiefly 
large vases and crowns whence wreaths and garlands 
dépend. 

Other sovereigns who hâve left inscriptions in the 
Dôme, commemorating work donc by them in restor- 
ing or beautifying it, are the Fatimide Caliph Zahir 
(1022 A. D.), who rebuilt it after it had fallen in, in 
conséquence of the earthquake of the year 1016; Sa- 
ladin (1187), who renewed the gilding; the great 
Cairene builder, Nasir, son of Kala'un (13 18 and 
13 19), and the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud IL; the last 
repaired the Dôme in the first third of the nineteenth 
century, but the inscription which records what he 

[354] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

did îs imperfect. Of the restoration by Sulaiman, 
the Magnifîcent (1520- 1566), there is no com- 
memorative inscription. 

Yet much of the spécial beauty of the mosque is 
due to him; it was he who restored the cupola and 
altered its Windows, the arches of which are slightly 
pointed, while the older and wider arches beneath 
are round; he filled them with coloured glass in an 
elaborate setting of small patterns so that the light 
filters through with rich efïect. He substituted 
Persian tiles on the upper parts of the outer façade 
for El-Walid's mosaics: for this he probably im- 
ported Persian potters, as his predecessors had mosaic 
workers. On the broad border round the building 
a broken colour efïect is obtained by the juxtaposition 
of glazed bricks of very varied shades, chiefly blues, 
from turquoise to full and dark tints relieved witK 
pale and rich greens, while the bricks of the archi- 
volts are glazed on their outer surfaces with blue and 
white alternately. The pilasters between the Win- 
dows are chiefly of a golden brown. Thèse, how- 
ever, seem to hâve sufïered more from restoration 
than other parts. And there must be fréquent oc- 
casion for restoration. We saw workmen without 
ladders attempting to remove weeds growing far 
above them, with a long pôle pointed with métal, this 
while inefïective against plants, as it could at most eut 
ofï their leaves, scratched the enamel, and occasion- 
ally knocked out a tile. Several bays hâve lost their 
marble casing and are temporarily covered with a 
plastering like mud till Yildiz Kiosk allows the re- 

[355] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

placing of the slabs, which are, we were assured, 
ready to hand. 

The other great building which occupîes part of 
[the Temple area, the Aksa or Furthest Mosque, was 
probably built at the same time as the Dôme of the 
iRock or rather transformed into a mosque from the 
remains of Justinian's Church; but there appears to 
be no authentic account of its origin. The later 
romancers state that in Abd el-Malik's time the 
gâtes were covered with plates of gold and silver, 
which were stripped ofï and turned into money by 
order of the Abbasid Mansur, who utilised the sum 
so obtained for restoring the Mosque after the rav- 
ages of an earthquake, which had wrecked it shortly 
before the fall of the Umayyad dynasty. Another 
earthquake brought the building down after th'is 
restoration, and the Caliph Mahdi (775-785 A. D,) 
had it rebuilt, but with the proportions somewhat 
altered; for supposing that the weakness of the 
édifice had been occasioned by excessive length and 
déficient breadth, he made the new building shorter 
but broader than the old. It has been shown that 
thèse Caliphs did actually visit Jérusalem, whence 
there is no inhérent improbability in the romancers' 
statements with regard to the successive restorations, 
though the story of the gold and silver plates is 
probably apocryphal. According to a geographer 
of the tenth century, in the restoration efïected by 
Mahdi, the rebuilding of the several colonnades was 
assigned by the Caliph to various governors, but a 
portion of the ancient édifice and that supported on 

[356] 






PÎ'V] 




« 



n 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

marble columns, remained embedded in the new. A 
marble colonnade on the north side had been added 
in the first half of the ninth century by the governor 
of Khorasan. 

The account of the building given by the historîan 
of Jérusalem at the end of the fifteenth century 
agrées very closely with its présent condition, but 
those historians who described it before the times of 
the Crusaders appear to hâve seen a much more mag- 
nificent édifice, double the width of the présent 
Mosque, with 280 pillars supporting the roof, and 
fifteen aisles. The Mosque has now seven aisles 
only. The dimensions, according to the eleventh 
century traveller, were 420 by 150 cubits, the former 
a wholly impossible figure, for which Mr. Lestrange 
reads 120, making the width greater than the length. 
Another English writer supposes the Mosque to hâve 
suiïered in the taking of Jérusalem by the Crusaders, 
and accounts for its reduced dimensions (230 feet by 
170) by the work of the Franks, who, however, are 
supposed to hâve added rather than to hâve taken 
away, and whose work was removed without much 
difficulty, it would seem, by Saladin. In the case 
of a building at Jérusalem the chance of exaggera- 
tion cannot be eliminated, whence it seems doubtful 
whether there is any necessity for the hypothesis to 
which référence has been made. 

The small Dôme of the Chain, which is a few 
paces east of the Dôme of the Rock, is supported on 
seventeen pillars, without any enclosing wall, except 
on the kiblah side. Moslem writers hâve fabulous 

[359] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

accounts of the reason why a chaîn was suspended 
from this dôme, which in Frankish days is said to 
hâve been called the Chapel of St. James the Less. 
Mr. Lestrange has, in this case, too, the merit of 
having refuted certain fictions that hâve got into 
European works from a late Arabie historian of 
Jérusalem, v^ith référence to the origin of this build- 
ing, which may be as old as the Dôme of the Rock. 
A dôme should serve to shelter something, probably 
an image, and the fact of this dôme being open ail 
round is évidence that its original purpose must hâve 
been something of the kind. 

Another of the many isolated buildings îs a lîttle 
sebil, or drinking fountain, built in 1445 by Kaietbaî, 
of whose Palace in Cairo we hâve an illustration, and 
Vfho has left traces at Damascus also of his love of 
building. This fountain is thoroughly Egyptian in 
style, and bears considérable resemblance to Kaiet- 
bai's Tomb, especially in the shape of the cupola, 
its ornamentation of arabesques and its métal finial. 

Of the other dômes and sanctuaries included in 
the Temple area the existence is certified at varions 
times before the Crusades, but there would appear to 
hâve been some variation both in their names and 
location. The same is true of the eleven gâtes of the 
area. 

We hâve seen that the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre goes back to the time of Constantine, who 
enclosed the three sites of importance within a single 
building. After the destruction of the church by 
Khosroes three, or according to some authorities 

[360] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

four, separate churches were erected in the same 
area. In loio the church was again destroyed by 
order of the Fatimide Caliph Hakim; various ac- 
counts are given of the motive or occasion for this 
arbitrary proceeding, and, as might be expected, the 
Jews are supposed to hâve had hand in it. In the 
case of this particular despot it is unnecessary to 
search for either. Rebuilding is said to hâve com- 
menced shortly afterwards, but it v^ould appear that 
serious opérations did not begin till 1037, after 
lengthy negotiations between the Byzantine Em- 
perors and the Egyptian Caliphs; the church, in the 
condition in which it was found by the Crusaders, 
v^as finished by the year 1048, chiefly at the expense 
of Constantine Monomachus, who sent Byzantine 
architects for the purpose. The cave of the 
sepulchre was surmounted by a circular church, 
while detached chapels were erected over the other 
sites, which were now, owing to the accumulation of 
legends, more numerous than they had been in the 
time of Constantine or Heraclius. The Franks en- 
larged the Rotunda, which covered the sepulchre, by 
the addition of the choir, from the southeast of 
which walls were built so as to include the Calvary 
chapel, while on the east the choir was connected 
through the Chapel of St. Helena with the Chapel of 
the Invention of the Cross. During the Frankish 
period the Church was, of course, in the possession 
of the Latins, whereas after the conquest of the city 
by Saladin the Greeks resumed possession; certain 
rights were afterwards purchased for the Latins in 

[361] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

1305, and in 1342 they obtained possession of the 
Chapel of the Apparition. Of the damage done to 
the Church by the Khwarizmians when the city was 
finally restored to the Moslems mention has already 
been made, and at some time ail entrances were 
closed except one in order to save Moslems trouble 
in the collection of admission fées from pilgrims. 
In 1502 Peter Martyr was sent by Ferdinand of Arra- 
gon to negotiate a treaty for the defence of pilgrims 
and the maintenance of the sanctuaries. In 1598 the 
Pasha of Damascus wished to turn the church into a 
mosque, but was induced to desist by the représenta- 
tions of French and Venetian envoys. Thèse dates 
are given by Sepp, who has also gone more fuUy than 
other writers into the history of the Latin orders 
established in Palestine, and the martyrdoms en- 
dured by overenthusiastic preachers to Moslems, till 
orders were issued from Rome, forbidding such en- 
deavours. In 1808 a conflagration occurred which 
did considérable damage, but this had been repaired 
by September 11, 1810, at a cost of 4,000,000 of 
roubles. To one who has witnessed the ceremony of 
the appearance of the Sacred Fire it is marvellous 
that such conflagrations are not more fréquent. 

Modem Jérusalem is the product of a variety of 
forces which had f ree play in the nineteenth century, 
religious revivais in England and America, archaeo- 
logical enthusiasm in the same countries, and politi- 
cal ambitions on the part of various European 
nations concerned with the nearer East. To thèse 
there has been added in quite récent times the force 

[362] 



" T^'^'^ — 




CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of Zionîsm, the programme of those who regard a 
return to Palestine as the natural solution of the 
problem raised by anti-Semitism in the countries 
where there are the largest Jewish congrégations. 
The relations between the Ottoman empire and the 
European powers being so very différent from what 
they were when Europe was in disorder, Jérusalem 
has by thèse varions forces been transformed into a 
centre for religions and philanthropie effort, uncon- 
nected to a great extent with either of the sanctuaries 
which formerly constituted its chief attraction. 
Curiosity attracts nearly as many visitors as are 
drawn by dévotion, and the ease with which pil- 
grimage can be accomplished detracts somewhat 
from its merit. While the Christian and Jewish 
quarters are constantly expanding, the latter indeed 
at an enormous rate, the Moslem population shows 
no sign of increase, and its members, while not un- 
afïected by European philanthropy, appear ordi- 
narily incapable of emulating Western enterprise. 
Those who, like the Khalidi family, do so, are hap- 
pily adopting the conception of unsectarian philan- 
thropy, which the new and bloodless invasion from 
Europe has brought. The enthusiasm which char- 
acterised the descriptions of those who arrived there 
at the cost of vast sacrifices is wanting in the memoirs 
of the traveller who is conveyed thither comfortably 
by steam; yet it is probable that in population and 
in the beauty of its buildings modem Jérusalem 
would compare favourably with the Jérusalem of 
any earlier period. Certainly at no time hâve life 

[364] 



JERUSALEM: AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

and property been so safe, or the relations between 
the dififerent éléments of the population so satisfac- 
tory. The number of tongues spoken by its inhabi- 
tants and its visitors, great even in the time of the 
Apostles, is now phénoménal, being variously esti- 
mated at f rom twenty-fîve to forty. But the dangers 
which used at one time to attend a great influx of 
strangers are now almost forgotten, and the most 
crowded solemnities pass ofï with little or no dis- 
order. Should the présent tendencies meet with no 
unexpected check, the city may long maintain the 
position of an international sanctuary, common to 
the chief religions of the world. 



[ 365 j 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

^^^^HE enthusiastîc language of Moslem 
M C^ writers about the beauties of Damascus, 
^L J which they regard as an earthly Paradise, 
^^'^ may seem to western visitors exaggerated 
and true of it only at an âge long past, if ever. And, 
indeed, there are few show buildings left where once 
there were many. The great Umayyad Mosque, 
much of it brand new, is the one important édifice, 
whither the sight-seer hastens; there are besides one 
or two show-houses, gorgeous rather than beautiful; 
and the Bazaars, still illustrative of Oriental manners, 
are probably roofed with European materials, and 
largely stocked with European goods. The beauty of 
the place lies rather in its natural than its artificial en- 
dowments. Its situation is indeed neither wild nor 
grand; but the contrast between its luxurious végéta- 
tion with its copious waters, and the arid région 
which often lies between it and the traveller's start- 
ing-point or destination, connects it in the mind with 
eastern conceptions of Paradise, literally a garden, 
and never represented without trees and running 
water. A fountain enlivens the courtyard of every 

[366] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

house: to him who looks down upon the cîty from 
Mount Kasion the minarets and castle-battlements 
appear to rise out of an orchard; peace seems to reign 
within its walls, and plenteousness within its palaces. 
To the Southwest the snow of Mount Hermon lends 
a touch of Alpine beauty to the scène. The moun- 
tains which surround it on three sides are no more 
than a background to the picture, viewed from the 
east; they are a natural finish to the landscape, not 
a bulwark of defence. 

Frobably the eastern admiration for Damascus 
was in part at least influenced by certain material 
comforts, chiefly its abundant fruit, and in ordinary 
circumstances the cheapness of living, which even a 
System of railways with Damascus for terminus bas 
not yet seriously changed. Another beauty of a 
more artifîcial sort lay in the goods manufactured 
there by craftsmen who inherited their skill and 
transmitted it to their descendants, till foreign con- 
querors withdrew them from the place, hoping to 
transplant their crafts. Such was the manufacture 
of damask, and equally famous that of Damascene 
blades. 

A Damascene writer of the ninth or tenth century 
of Islam, translated by M. Sauvaire, makes out a list 
of the beauties of bis native city, some of which still 
exist, while others are in ruins or bave disappeared. 
The list is heterogeneous, as it deals with single 
buildings, villages and flowers. The last include 
" the many-flowering eglantine, trained over arbours 
like the vine"; narcissus, violets — this flower gives 

[367] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

its name to a neighbouring valley — jessamine, lily, 
lilac, ox-eye, cyclamen, myrtle, anémone, water-lily, 
Egyptian sallow, and one called " Stop and look!" 

Among buildings he assigns the fîrst place to the 
Citadel, which has long been a shell ; f rom a distance 
ît still looks formidable, but the interior is in ruins. 
In the tenth century of Islam it was still a hive of 
activity, containing a bath, a mill, various shops, a 
mint, a mosque, and, of course, the governor's palace. 
The canal called Banyas passed through the Citadel, 
and divided into two streams, one for drinking pur- 
poses, parted afresh into a number of rills, while the 
other seryed as a drain, and went some twelve feet 
underground to issue at the Little Gâte, whence it 
was turned towards farms. The round tower of the 
Citadel, " which might hâve been cast in a mould of 
wax," was thought to hâve no rival in the world. At 
one time — probably during the Mameluke period 
only — the Citadel possessed a great council-chamber 
whose walls and ceilings were covered with the rich- 
est arabesques, and inscribed with texts of the Koran 
written in gold-leaf. Its foundation is ascribed to 
Atsiz, the contemporary of Badr al-Jamali, who for 
a time got possession of the chief Syrian cities; but 
it was rebuilt by Nur al-din, in whose time the 
eastern peoples had learned something about for- 
tresses from the Crusaders. Further improvements 
were made by the Egyptian Sultan Adil, who 
ordered each member of his family to build a tower, 
and whose name remains in an inscription of thé 
northeast tower. The towers were stripped of their 

[368] 



T--1 




THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

roofs and the walls of their battlements by Hulagu's 
Mongols; thèse were restored by the Sultan Baibars, 
whose services are recorded in several inscriptions. 
Great damage was done when Timur-Lenk besieged 
and took the city ; a trench was dug round the round 
tower, and wood piled against it and fired. The 
ruinous condition of the whole édifice apparently 
dates from the time of the disbanding of the Janis- 
saries, at the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

In Mameluke times the governor's palace was with- 
in the Citadel, once three storeys high. The présent 
palace, or Serai, is said to occupy the site of one built 
by the Sultan Nur al-din, called " House of Justice." 
The modem building dates from the time of Ibrahim 
Fasha, who efïected many changes in Damascus. A 
famous palace in Damascus called the Farti-coloured 
Castle was the model for similar buildings else- 
where; it dated from the time of the Sultan Baibars, 
and was located in the Meidan. 

Below the Citadel, i.e., on the east side, there was 
a square somewhat similar to the Rumailah Flace 
below the Cairene Citadel. This counted as one of 
the beauties of Damascus, being surrounded by pal- 
aces, and supplied with ail that could delight the ear 
or charm the eye. Shops stocked with ail kinds of 
goods were established there. It was a pleasure re- 
sort of the people of the city at evening time, till a 
double beat on the drums within the Citadel re- 
minded them that the second watch of night had be- 
gun, and they cleared away to their homes. 

The Citadel was joined at either side by the walls, 

[371] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

which, where they still exist, display, as has often 
been remarked, traces of three styles of building — 
Roman, Arab and Turkish. Inscriptions on the 
towers forming part of the wall record the names 
of Nur al-din, who is credited by the historians with 
having rebuilt the walls, and the Ayyubid Salih. 
The height is f rom fîfteen to twenty feet. The Mos- 
lems hâve a tradition that when the place was taken 
there were seven gâtes, called like the weekdays af ter 
the seven planets; and the gâtes, they assert, were sur- 
mounted by images of the deities corresponding with 
those planets — probably they mean before Christian 
times. If there be any truth in this tradition, the 
names must bave ail been altered, for the modem 
names can be traced back to an early period of the 
Moslem occupation with only a few variations. 
Two new gâtes, called Faraj and Salamah, in the 
style of the gâtes of Cairo — thèse words mean " Safe- 
ty " and " Deliverance " — are said to bave been 
added by the Ayyubids. Another gâte that once ex- 
îsted was called Bab al-Imarah, from the new quar- 
ter to which it led. 

The waters of Damascus naturally take their place 
among its beauties, and of the pride of the inhabi- 
tants in their rivers we bave a trace in the Old Testa- 
ment story of Naaman, who felt personally wounded 
at the suggestion that the Israelitish Jordan could 
possess properties not to be found in the waters of 
Damascus. In thèse days the Damascenes are said 
to attribute to their waters the actual property re- 
quîred by the Syrian Captain, viz., that of curing 

[372] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

leprosy, or at least preventing it spreading. This 
belief must go back in some way to the story of 
Naaman. From an early time there bas existed an 
elaborate System of canals, by which the water of 
the Barada bas been made to irrigate a large area. 
Witbin tbe city tbe water is conducted in under- 
ground tubes from which every bouse gets its supply. 
In von Kremer's time leaks in the tubes were re- 
paired by putting refuse into the water, which even- 
tually stopped them; but this process naturally was 
insanitary. Modem and ancient writers agrée as to 
the names of six canals drawn ofï the main river be- 
fore it enters Damascus and flowing at différent 
levels. The channels for thèse are largely excavated 
in the rock, and are thought to be at least partly pre- 
Islamic. The most northerly of thèse, which bears 
the name Yazid, is said to bave been dug by the 
Caliph of that name, who reigned from 680 to 683. 
Further opérations, with a view to irrigation, are 
said to bave been executed by the Umayyad Caliphs 
Sulaiman and Hisham, but the account of them is 
not quite easy to understand. Apparently they con- 
sisted in making arrangements whereby the amount 
of water to flow in each channel could be exactly 
regulated. Besides the water supplied by the 
Barada, there were supposed to be 360 springs be- 
tween the Bab Salamah and the Bab Tuma to the 
northwest of the city, ail flowing southwards. The 
number is one used by Arabie writers to dénote 
an indefinite quantity, one for each day in the 
year. 

[373] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Two places are mentîoned by a writer on the 
Beautîes of Damascus, in which the water furnished 
the chief attraction. One of thèse was called the 
Place Between the Two Rivers, to the east of the 
city, where the Barada parted into two channels, of 
which one bore the name of the saintly Sheik 
Arslan. It was used as a place of public entertain- 
ment, and the names of the dealers in différent kinds 
of ref reshments who had stalls there exhibit wonder- 
ful spécialisation. That the religions needs of the 
visitors might be gratified also, there was a chapel 
where spécial rites were performed on Tuesdays and 
Saturdays; some of thèse cérémonies, probably forms 
of dance, were of a sort calculated to daze those who 
witnessed them. Another place of public resort wa9 
" The Parting of the Streams," said to be where the 
seven canals divided, but this can scarcely be correct. 
The pools and cascades formed by one of thèse canals 
were, we are told, and may well believe it, " a spec- 
tacle which banished care and made sorrow fly 
away." 

The southerly canal, called Kanawat, was made 
with the view of supplying the city with drinking 
water, which is abundant and good. But as ail ad- 
vantages hâve some corresponding drawback, the 
wealth of water with which Damascus is blessed is 
probably the reason why fever prevails there as much 
as in any city of Syria. On the other hand, those 
who had to défend the place against besiegers could! 
at times utilise the waters for rendering approacK 
difEcult, and the Barada itself saved the necessity of 

[374] 



'.^^^'%ç- 




il 





THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

building many towers to strengthen the wall before 
which it flows. 

The classical writers say little or nothing of the 
buildings of Damascus, yet there is évidence that the 
cîty contained some fine monuments when the Arabs 
took it, and we hear of two palaces near the site 
of the Umayyad Mosque. With the Street called 
Straight, famous from the allusion to it in the Acts 
of the Apostles, it is usual to identify the great thor- 
oughfare bisecting the city from the western gâte, 
called Bab al-Jabiyah probably from a village of that 
name, to the gâte still called eastern (Sharki). The 
gâtes were originally threefold, and between them 
w^as a threefold avenue, divided by Corinthian colon- 
nades, the central being for the use of foot-passengers, 
while the other two were to enable the horse-traffic 
going in opposite directions to keep separate. *^ I 
liave been enabled," says J. L. Forter, " to trace the 
remainder of colonnades at various places over nearly 
one-third of the length of this street. Wherever ex- 
cavations are made in the line, fragments of columns 
are found in situ, at the depth in some places of ten 
feet and more below the présent surface: so great has 
been the accumulation of rubbish during the âges. 
This Street was thus a counterpart to those still seen 
in Falmyra and Jerash." Further traces of this 
ancient thoroughfare hâve been discovered at a later 
period. The Arabs blocked up ail but the northern 
passage of the gâtes. There is at présent no street in 
Damascus which would command much admiration, 
but the long-roofed bazaars, of which that called 

[377] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

Hamîdiyyah (after the présent Sultan) is the most 
important, are admirably adapted to the trafBc of the 
place, though the absence of trottoirs occasions some 
inconvenience. On the justice of the identification 
of the Street called Straight it would be unwise to 
make any pronouncement. 

Fifteen churches are said to hâve been granted to 
the Christians by the Moslem conqueror, but the 
author of the " Description " can apparently enumer- 
ate only thirteen, and in this list one is a Jewish syna- 
gogue. In most cases too he can only locate them 
roughly, without being able to specify their names: 
the romancer translated in the next chapter was better 
informed. The church of St. Mary was the most 
famous, and according to Ibn Jubair was the next 
most important Christian édifice in the east, after the 
Church of the Holy Sepulchre; it contained a mar- 
vellous number of ikons, " suffîcient to bewilder the 
thought and arrest the eye." When the news of the 
defeat of the Mongols in 1260 reached Damascus, 
the Moslems attacked this church and destroyed it. 
Most of the others fared similarly at some time or 
other. A church, curiously called " the Crusaders', " 
was turned into a mosque in the time of Saladin at 
the instance of a silk-merchant, who asserted that it 
had been a mosque originally; he got a crowd to- 
gether to dismantle it, and when the images had been 
removed from the south side, a mihrab was discov- 
ered, surrounded by an Arabie inscription in lapis 
lazuli ; the crowd were overjoyed at this confirmation 
of the man's assertion. Another pretence wherebyj 

[378] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

churches could be destroyed was that they had either 
not been included in the original treaty of capitula- 
tion, or that they had been built since that time, so 
we are told that " the Mosque of Shahrazuri in Elo- 
quence Street" was a church that had not been 
specifîed in the treaty. When the " Description " was 
written, it would appear that there were only two 
churches in Damascus, one belonging to the Jacob- 
ites, the other probably to the Melchites, called the 
Church of Humaid son of Durrah (a relation on the 
mother's side of the Caliph Muawiyah), who was 
owner of the street in which the church was sîtuated. 
The relations between Moslems and Christians in 
this place appear rarely to hâve been cordial. It is 
asserted that at the time of the Moslem conquest, only 
one Christian family adopted Islam, and this would 
imply greater tenacity on the part of the Damascene 
believers than was displayed by their co-religionists 
in most Oriental cities. The latest writer on the his- 
tory of Islamic civilisation charges the Umayyads, in 
whose time Damascus was the capital of the Moslem 
Empire, with persécution of Christians; and the 
transformation of the Church of St. John into a 
mosque is admitted by Moslem historians to hâve 
been against the treaty. Thèse persécutions were not 
dictated by fanaticism on the part of the Uma5ryads, 
who, with one exception, were notoriously lax; but 
by the need for money with which to pay partisans, 
their claim to the Caliphate being untenable on its 
own merits. This at least is the explanation given 
by the writer quoted. Syrians were, moreover, con- 

[379] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

stantly suspected of being in league with and abettîng 
the Byzantine emperor, and the épisode of the 
Crusades naturally embittered the relations between 
the communities, though Damascus never actually 
fell into Frankish hands. In the extract dealing 
with the taking of Damascus by Hulagu, ît will be 
seen that in the year 1260 the Christians for a few 
months enjoyed the privilège of avenging to some ex- 
tent the oppression of centuries, and how speedily the 
sky clouded again over them after that brief gleam 
of sunshine. Since the time of Ibrahim Pasha, when 
various humiliations imposed on Christian visitors 
were removed, the relations hâve probably îm- 
proved; yet the events of 1860 showed that the anti- 
Christian feeling was deep, and among certain por- 
tions of the Moslem population it might still be 
roused. 

The Umayyads in such anecdotes as are preserved 
of them often figure as luxurious and magnificent 
princes, whence we should expect to hear something 
of their palaces, since wonderful things are told us of 
those belonging to the Caliphs of Baghdad and Cairo. 
Our curiosity in this matter is not adequately grati- 
fied, though occasionally there is a notice to the efïect 
that some mosque or other édifice occupies part of the 
ground at one time covered by an Umayyad palace. 
Of that built by the founder of the dynasty, Muawi- 
yah, whose réputation was rather for gluttony and 
cunning than magnificence, though in some taies he 
is represented as boasting that he had enjoyed ail that 
the world could give, we hâve an anecdote which sug- 

[380] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

gests anything but splendour. When this prince, 
who at first held the office of governor only, built 
himself a palace of baked brick, he had occasion to 
receive a Byzantine enjoy, whose opinion he asked' 
about the structure. ^^ The upper part," replied the 
Greek, " will do for birds, and the lower for rats." 
Muawiyah had the house pulled down and rebuilt of 
stone. It was purchased afterwards by Abd al- 
Malik, the other great sovereign of this line, from a 
descendant of its founder, for the sum of 40,000 
dinars and four estâtes; but this need not imply that 
it was on a grand scale, since it was the f ashion at the 
time to pay huge sums for any dwelling that had ever 
been occupied by one of the early heroes of Islam. 
Fabulons priées are recorded as having been given 
for dwellings of this sort at Meccah, which we can- 
not believe to hâve been very gorgeous. The list of 
show-houses at Damascus given by the author of the 
" Description " consists almost entirely of buildings 
that enjoyed such a réputation. Part of the Copper- 
smiths' Bazaar, stretching as far as the Bazaar of the 
Bootmakers, was said to hâve been the site of the rési- 
dence of a son of Utbah Ibn Rabi'ah, an eminent 
contemporary of the Prophet. Inside the Gâte of 
Thomas was the house of the conqueror Khalid with 
his oratory. The house of Auf Ibn Malik, another 
hero of the early days of Islam, was shown near the 
old Thread-market. Inside the eastern gâte to the 
right was the house of Malik Ibn Hubairah, Muawi- 
yah's gênerai, etc. 

A rather more important mansion was that of the 

[381] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

celebrated Hajjaj, viceroy of Abd al-Malik, notorî- 
ous in eastern history for hîs ruthless severity, but 
celebrated for bis magnificence also. A whole 
quarter of Damascus was called after bis palace, and 
the name is not yet obsolète; but no traces of the 
building bave been discovered. In 1237-8 the 
whole of this région was burned down, and the re- 
mains of the palace, which had probably been a ruin 
long before, are likely to bave perished then. 

In most descriptions of Damascus, whether an- 
cient or modem, every religions building appears to 
be dwarfed by the Great Umayyad Mosque, which 
we shall leave to the end. The rulers of Damascus 
were no less libéral founders of religions édifices 
than were other Sultans and governors ; and the " De- 
scription " enumerates no fewer than 241 mosques for 
public worship, afterwards supplemented by lists 
which bring the number up to 572, though this figure 
includes some that were outside the walls. The 
same work gives eleven other lists of buildings in 
which provision was made for religions service, un- 
less (which is unlikely) the médical schools were 
an exception. In the time of the traveller Ibn Ju- 
bair — i.e. the late twelfth century — there were be- 
sides thèse two hospitals, the old and the new, of 
which the latter was probably the institution 
founded by Nur al-din, to which référence bas al- 
ready been made; it had an endowment of fifteen 
dinars daily. Doctors visited it every morning to 
prescribe for the patients, of whom lists were kept. 
There was spécial treatment for the insane, who were 

[382] 




ÏOMB OF SHEIK ARSLAN, DAMASCUS. 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

chained. The médical schools of the " Description " 
are ail of a later period than the hospitals. The 
fîrst was called the Dakhwariyyah " in the old Ba- 
zaar of the Goldsmiths " south of the Great Mosque, 
founded in the year 1250 by a physician, who, for his 
successful treatment of maladies sufïered by the 
Ayyubid princes, was given the title Chief of the 
Physicians of the Two Zones (Syria and Egypt). 
It appears that a successful médical career was a 
road to fortune in those days as in thèse ; this person 
received as fées for spécial cures the sums of 7000 
and 12,000 dinars, and al-Ashraf settled on him es- 
tâtes which brought in 1500 dinars annually, when 
he gave him the post of court-physician. The build- 
ing left by him to the city as médical school had been 
his own house. Two other houses were devoted to 
the same object within the next sixty years, but one 
of thèse was afterwards turned into a mosque, 
whereas the other went to ruin. 

The traveller Ibn Jubair was greatly struck by 
the monasteries or hospices, of which the number at 
the time of the '^ Description " had risen to about 
twenty-nine. The friendly disposition of the Ayyu- 
bids towards the Sufis has already been noticed; and 
according to the Spanish visitor thèse ascetics had 
things very much their own way at Damascus. 
Their hospices, he says, are splendidly decorated 
palaces, in ail of which there is running water, beau- 
tifuUy conducted. " The Sufis are kings in this city, 
for God has spared them the trouble of worldly em- 
ployment, has rendered it possible for them to dévote 

[385] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

their minds to His service, and has housed them in 
mansions, such as must ever remind them of the man- 
sions of Paradise; to those of them who are saved 
the pleasures of both this world and the next hâve 
been given. Very admirable are the practices and 
orders of thèse brotherhoods, especially the arrange- 
ment by which différent members undertake différ- 
ent departments of service. Beautiful are their 
gatherings to hear thrilling mélodies, where not un- 
frequently in the intensity of their émotion some of 
them pass away out of the world. The most won- 
derful building belonging to them is a palace called 
by them the Tower, which rises high in the air, witK 
dwellings at the top, commanding a glorious view; 
it is half a mile distant from the city. To it there is 
attached a vast garden, said to hâve been the pleasure 
ground of a Turkish sovereign. One night he was 
amusing himself by pouring some of the wine, which 
was being drunk in the palace, on the heads of Sufis 
who passed by; complaint was made to Nur al-din, 
who did not rest till he had got the whole place as a 
gift from its owner, which he then proceeded to settle 
on the Sufis in perpetuity." In the siège of Damas- 
cus of the year 1228 several of thèse hospices were 
pillaged and ruined. 

A considérable number of schools still exist in 
Damascus, but many édifices which were originally 
designed for this purpose hâve been turned into pri- 
vate houses; von Kremer identified a number which 
had experienced this change in the street which leads 
northwards from Bab al-Barid to the Tomb of Bai- 

[386] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

bars, and a number more in the quarter between Suk 
Bab al-Barid and Suk Jakmak. Still, several that 
are mentioned in the " Description " appear to be în 
existence, and several bave been built since. Some of 
those which were intended to be for advanced study 
bave sunk to the level of infant schools. Frobably 
aspirants after the higher Moslem éducation bave 
for many centuries gone to al-Azhar to seek it, 
whereas Constantinople attracts students of another 
kind. 

Of schools that receive the attention of vîsitors 
there may be mentioned that of the heroic Nur al- 
din, whose name occurs in the history of Egypt also, 
in the Cloth Bazaar. The building is said to bave 
been originally part of the palace of the Umayyad 
Hisham, son of Abd al-Malik, who reigned from 
724-743. The prince, Nur al-din, was at first buried 
in the Citadel, but bis body was afterwards trans- 
f erred to this school ; which the author of the " De- 
scription " asserts to bave been built for him by bis 
son, al-Salih Isma'il, although it would appear that 
this is contradicted by inscriptions on the school it- 
self, which name Nur al-din himself as founder. A 
similar institution is that called Raihaniyyah, a little 
to the west of the Nuriyyah. Its date is 1 178-9; its 
founder was a eunuch and freedman of Nur al-din, 
who entrusted to his charge the Citadel and prison 
of Damascus, in which posts he was confirmed by 
Saladin, whose cause he espoused when the famous 
Sultan took Damascus. An inscription copied by 
M. Sauvaire still records the lands settled upon it. 

[387] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

A school of some celebrity is the Kaimariyyah, 
founded 1266 by al-Kaimari, an Emir who at the 
death of Turanshah played a part of importance in, 
Syria. He is said to hâve spent 40,000 dirhems on 
a clock put up over the door of his school. Von 
Kremer describes it as a moderate-sized building, 
with a stone-paved court, cloistered ail round below, 
and with open corridors above. The front towards 
the Street has three cupolas. 

Of more interest than thèse is the school of the Sul- 
tan Baibars, between the gâtes Bab al-Faraj and Bab 
al-Faradis, north of the Umayyad Mosque. It had 
originally been the house of a certain Akiki, of 
whom Ayyub, father of Saladin, purchased it; ap- 
parently Baibars himself turned it into a school and 
mausoleum, but some ascribe this action to his son 
Barakah Khan. The foundations are said to hâve 
been laid on October 12, 1277. In the time of the 
author of the " Description " it had been turned into 
a private house. 

Between the library of Baibars and the Umayyad 
Mosque is the Tomb of Saladin, side by side with 
that of one of his ministers. The ^' Description " lo- 
cates the tomb of the great Sultan in the school of 
al-Aziz, west of the tomb of al-Ashraf, north of the 
School of Tradition founded by the ^^ Excellent 
Judge," a man of great note of the time of Saladin, 
especially as stylist and poet, and the coUector of 
a great library in Cairo. Founded by al-Afdal 
(1186-1196) it was finished by al-Aziz of Egypt, 
who had the body of the Sultan, first deposited in the 

[388] 




%- 





■^ÊÊÊÊ 



/r-J. 



1^- 



tu 
G 

> 



^Sl' I 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

Citadel, transferred thither. Frayers ofïered at 
this tomb are, the author assures us, answered: " the 
fact bas been recounted by the greatest and most dis- 
tinguished doctors, and admits of no doubt." An 
epitaph by the " Excellent Judge " was inscribed on 
the grave, in which the wish was expressed that after 
so many cities had opened their gâtes to him, Fara- 
dise might do the same. 

Damascus is otherwise famous for harbouring the 
ashes of numerous persons of importance; the grave- 
yard of the Little Gâte is said to contain those of 
Bilal, the Frophet's Mueddin, an important person 
at the beginning of Islam, and two of the Frophet's 
wives. Outside the gâte of the Jordan Mosque 
there is, or used to be, a pile of stones marking where 
the grave of the Caliph Yazid once stood. The 
stones were thrown by Fersian visitors, v^ith a vîew 
of expressing their abhorrence of the worst of the 
Umayyads — the Caliph under whom occurred the 
afïair of Kerbela, when Husain, the Frophet's 
grandson, was killed, to be mourned, wherever 
Shiites are to be found, on the tenth of the month 
Muharram. 

Most of the mausoleums described in the work 
translated by M. Sauvaire belong to sovereigns and 
other persons of eminence not later than the Ayyubid 
period. The author dwells especially on those 
which contain the ashes of the three princes, al-Adil, 
al-Ashraf and al-Kamil, whose names ail figure in 
the history of Egypt. An interesting personage also 
occurring in this list is Ismat al-din Khatun, wife 

[391 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of Nur al-din and afterwards of Saladin, highly 
esteemed for her piety and virtue, " who did not act 
without a good intention." She founded in her hus- 
bands' city a mosque, which was afterwards turned 
into a private dwelling, a hospice, and a mausoleum 
for herself on the Yazid Canal in the Salihiyyah, 
which some 150 years after her death was turned 
into a mosque, and after a somewhat longer period 
had elapsed was, in the year 1568, yet further en- 
larged and endowed. 

Leaving the abodes of the dead for those of the 
living, we notice what bas often been observed, that 
the outside of the bouses is rarely of great magni- 
ficence. It is inside that the architects display their 
skill and the wealthy their riches. The rooms usu- 
ally open out into a court and are disconnected. 
This practice is said to go back to pre-Islamic times. 
In the two bouses which are usually exhibited to 
visitors there is an abundance of marbles and mo- 
saics, with enamelled tiles and profusion of gold and 
colouring. 

Two other classes of buildings to which the vîsi- 
tor may be taken are the Baths, of which that called 
the Queen's Bath is perhaps the finest, and the 
Khans, or storehouses for merchandise, among which 
that which bears the name of As'ad Pasha is pré- 
éminent. It is supported on four piers with nine 
dômes above them. 

Of the number of actual mosques given above f rom 
the " Description," many must bave become disused 
or been demolished before the seventeenth century, 

[392] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

when the figure was 150. During Ibrahim Pasha's 
government some further transformation of mosques 
took place. That of Yelbogha was turned into a bis- 
cuit-factory, and that of Tengiz into barracks, and 
then into a military collège. The existing mosques 
that attract the notice of travellers are chiefly the fol- 
lowing: that of Sinan Fasha (near the Jabiyah 
Gâte), the minaret of which is conspicuous every- 
where for the highly-glazed green tiles with which it 
is covered; the interior is decorated with marble col- 
umns and a marble pavement. It was originally, we 
are told, called The Onion Mosque. In the year 
1585, when Sinan Fasha was appointed governor of 
Damascus, he rebuilt it and made it suitable for Fri- 
day worship. Though the governorship of thîs 
Fasha lasted only six months, the building of his 
Mosque appears to hâve taken — probably intermit- 
tently — some years, since 1590 is given as the date of 
its completion. To about the same period belongs 
the Derwishiyyah Mosque, which also was a recon- 
struction of a similar building on a smaller scale, or- 
dered by Derwish Fasha, governor from 1571 to 
1574. Somewhat earlier is the Mosque of the Sultan 
Selim in the Salihiyyah. It contains the tomb of the 
greatest of the Sufî writers, Ibn Arabi, whose works 
hâve often been condemned for heresy, but neverthe- 
less whose réputation for sanctity perhaps surpasses 
that of any other Moslem saint. The mosque was 
built by the Sultan in the years 1517 and 1518 out of 
respect for the memory of the saint. Freviously, we 
are told, the spot had been marked by a ruined bath 

[393] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

and a pile of refuse. The Sultan spent " incalcu- 
lable sums " upon it, and provided it with four 
mueddins and thirty readers of the Koran. 

Another mosque built by an Ottoman Sultan is 
that called after Sulaiman, who founded it in 1554, 
together with the Tekiyyeh, or hospice, which also 
bears his name. They are situated on the site of the 
famous palace of the Sultan Baibars in the " Green 
Meidan." The materials which belonged to the 
palace were employed again for thèse buildings, the 
érection of which took six years. The author of the 
supplément to the " Description " déclares the mar- 
ble, the cupolas, and the leaden work of the buildings 
to be such as " stupefy the spectator while rejoicing 
his heart." Spécial attention is called to the basin in 
the middle of the court, to the pulpit and the mihrab. 
Only the writer complains that in accordance with a 
tradition current among the architects the minarets 
were placed east and west, instead of north and south, 
whence the area in which the call to prayer would be 
heard was considerably reduced. The architect was 
" the most incomparable of great geniuses, the noblest 
of the children of Persia, our master Mulla Agha." 
He was also set in charge of the administration, and 
followed, we are told, the unusual plan of giving the 
best places to those who injured him, and the worst 
to those who tried to do him a kindness. 

We conclude with the great Uma5ryad Mosque., 
This is the grandest of ail Mohammedan buildings 
and Arabie writers give fuU rein to their powers of 
description in recounting its magnificence and the 

[394] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

riches lavished upon its érection by El-Walid; the 
whole revenue of Syria for seven years, not counting 
eighteen shiploads of gold and silver from Cyprus 
and many rich gifts of precious stones. Thèse latter 
enriched the mihrab and minbar but, with the 600 
golden lamps suspended by chains of the like precious 
métal, were soon diverted to other uses by a following 
Caliph. The leaden roof of the mosque is described 
in as high terms of admiration as the gold so lavishly 
spread on the interior. Every town had to furnish 
its quota, but so difEcult was it to obtain sufBcient that 
tombs were rifled. From one sarcophagus the body 
was taken from its leaden shell and laid on the 
ground; the head fell into a ravine and blood burst 
from the mouth. Terror-struck, the bystanders 
made inquiry, till at last they were told, " It is the 
tomb of King Talut (Saul)." A prettier story is 
that of a woman who refused to sell some lead, 
needed to complète one corner, save weight for 
weight in gold. The Caliph wrote that her demand 
should be complied with, but then the woman said, 
*'It is my gift to the mosque." "You were too 
avaricious to sell save weight for weight, and now 
do you ofïer a gift? " " I acted thus believing that 
your lord played the tyrant and exacted forced 
labour. Now that I see he pays punctually and 
weight for weight, I acknowledge that in this matter 
he wrongs no one." The commissioner reported 
thèse words and the Caliph commanded that thèse 
sheets of lead should be marked " For Allah" ; this 
was done by means of a mould. 

[395] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

To return to figures, there was praying space for 
20,000 men; as for the money expended, one item, 
viz., the cost of the cabbages eaten by the workmen 
is said to hâve been 6000 dinars (£2500). When 
the wondrous work was finished, the Caliph would 
not look at the accounts brought to him on eighteen 
laden mules, but ordered that they should be burnt 
and thus addressed the crowd: " Men of Damascus, 
you possess four glories above other people ; you are 
proud of your water, your air, your fruits, your baths ; 
your mosque shall be your fifth glory." 

Like some other famous places of worshîp, this 
mosque was once the site of a heathen temple, por- 
tions of which can be traced in the porticos. Theo- 
dosius built a church there (a.D. 379) and dedicated 
it to St. John the Baptist, to whom there is still an 
imposing shrine. When the Moslems entered Da- 
mascus (a.D. 635), by an amicable arrangement, the 
building was shared between Christians and Mo- 
hammedans, but in A.D. 708 El-Walid, sixth of the 
Umayyads, drove the Christians out, confîrming 
them, however, in the possession of other churches. 
But to this day one of the three minarets is called by 
the name of Isa (Jésus), and above a gâte, long since 
closed, is the inscription, " Thy kingdom, O Christ, 
is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion en- 
dureth throughout ail générations." 

El-Walid summoned a fabulous number of crafts- 
men (one writer says 200, another préfixes one and 
makes it 1200, a third adds a nought and reckons 
,12,000) from Constantinople, and his magnificent 

[396] 



a 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

mosque was, like other early Moslem édifices, en- 
tirely Byzantine in style and rich with rare marbles 
and fine mosaics; while in accordance with another 
Moslem custom, antique columns were plundered 
from many Syrian towns. Many of thèse remain in 
the interior, but most of those described by the Arab 
geographer Mukkadisi as sustaining the arcade 
round the great court, hâve disappeared and piers 
covered with plaster hâve taken their place. It is 
thought, however, that many columns remain within 
thèse piers of masonry. The mosaics represented 
Meccah, Medinah and Jérusalem and other princi- 
pal towns of the world, amid groves of orange and 
palm, while long inscribed scrolls and wreaths of 
foliage filled the interspaces; of thèse, fragments 
can still be traced, and more are probably hidden 
under plaster and whitewash. 

The two principal gâtes are at the west and east, 
they are named Bab-el-Barid (Gâte of the Fost) and 
Bab Jairun after a mythical conqueror. They had 
triple portais closed with bronze-covered doors ; one 
of thèse which remains at the East Gâte (Bab 
Jairun) bears a central band of inscription with the 
name of the Sultan Abd el-Aziz, son of Barkuk 
(1405) and a chalice, a device of the Mamelukes. 
The gâtes and adjoining porticos hâve retained more 
ancient work, both of construction and of ornament, 
such as inlay of beautiful coloured marble, than the 
rest of the building. 

There were originally towers at the four corners, 
those at the south side remain ; the Madana, Gharbiy- 

[399] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

yah (Western Minaret) formerly inhabited by 
anchorites, also named after Kaietbaî; opposite it, 
î.e., at the southeast angle, is the Madanat Isa (Min- 
aret of Jésus) or the White Minaret. On the north 
side, rather more than a third from the east angle, 
stands the Madanat al-Arus (Minaret of the Bride) ; 
this was not as the other towers, originally Byzantine, 
but was built by al-Walid. 

The Great Court is surrounded on three sides by 
spacious corridors, now resting on piers, with round 
arches; the upper storey retains at the east double 
arches separated by a small column ; thèse hâve been 
replaced elsewhere by commonplace narrow Win- 
dows. 

Within the Court stand three small and beautiful 
cupolas, at the west the Kubbat el-Khaznah (Dôme 
of the Treasury), for the mosque had great endow- 
ments. This building is, however, no longer used, 
but is fîUed with ancient MSS. jealously kept from 
view; it was only as a spécial favour to the Emperor 
Wilhelm that German scholars were allowed to 
handle them, and for a specified time only. The 
Kubbat el-Naufarah, in the centre of the court, has 
a fountain for ablutions; it is also called Kafs el-Ma 
(the Water Cage) , because a spout rises from a grat- 
ing so that people drink from the side. The building 
stands on arches upheld by four thick and as many 
slender columns, an upper room has wooden supports 
only and a flattish broad leaden roof with a little 
cupola in the middle. The third, Kubbat el-Sa'at 
(Dôme of the Hours) stands at the east of the Court. 

[400] 



THE FRAISES OF DAMASCUS 

The whole of the south side of the Court is occu- 
pied by the mosque, with its three great aisles divided 
by columns twenty-three feet high; its interior mea- 
surements arc 429 feet by 124. The whole floor îs 
covered by more carpets than we could count, about 
eight abreast, and many of them fine. The clere- 
story has round arches. The chief entrance is in the 
middle of the north side, i.e., from the Court; it leads 
under wide transepts to the mihrab and chief pulpit 
in the southern wall; there are three other mihrabs 
for the other Schools of Law. Over the centre, 
where the transepts cross the aisles, is the great dôme,' 
nearly fifty feet in diameter and above 120 in height; 
it is called Kubbat al-Nasr (the Vulture Dôme) it- 
self counting as the head, the aisle below as the breast 
and the lofty transept roofs, high above the other 
roofs, being likened to outspread wings. " From 
whatever quarter you approach the city, you see the 
dôme high above ail else as though suspended in the 



air." 



The Mosque has sufïered repeatedly from fires, 
especially in 1069, owing to riots between the Fati- 
mides and Shiahs; in 1400, when Timur-Lenk took 
the town; lastly, and very severely, in 1894, since 
when plaster and whitewash hâve taken the place of 
the gold and coloured brilliance of old. 



[401] 



SCENES FROM THE HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

XT has been observed with justîce that Da- 
mascus has prospered in a variety of con- 
ditions, as the capital of a state, more 
frequently as the capital of a province, 
sometimes as a provincial town. It never as a me- 
tropolis grew to the vast dimensions of Babylon 
or Baghdad; on the other hand it never sufïered 
very seriously by the removal of the court. The 
periods when it has been the chief city of a sov- 
ereign state hâve not been many. From the Old 
Testament we learn of a kingdom of Aram with 
Damascus for its capital, which was contemporary 
with the northern Israelitish kingdom, and perished 
with it; and we hear incidentally of a temple of Rim- 
mon, a god whose name appears to show Assyrian 
affinities ; we learn also the names of a few kings, and 
are amazed that the Israelitish prophets should in- 
terfère in the matter of their appointment. Little is 
heard of the place during the period when Persia 
dominated the nearer East, and when after the fall of 
that Empire a Greek kingdom of Syria was set up, 
Damascus was superseded after a time by a new capi- 
tal Antioch. At times before and after the com- 

[402] 




^ r- W.\ 




SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

mencement of Christianity ît was occupîed by Na- 
bataean rulers, some of whom are known to us by in- 
scriptions in Arabia. Christianity appears to bave 
made way in the city at an early date, and probably 
long subsisted by the side of a mixture of Greek and 
Nabataean cuits. A fresh era in its history was con- 
stituted by the Mohammedan conquest, especially 
when the founder of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750) 
made it the capital of an empire that steadily grew 
in extent. Since the termination of that perîod it bas 
not been a metropolis, for even such sovereigns as 
Nur al-din acknowledged the suzerainty of the 
Caliph of Baghdad, while other rulers bave been 
commissioned by the Sultans reîgning in Cairo and 
Constantinople. Numerous rebellions hâve indeed 
been commenced at the Syrian capital, but their suc- 
cess bas usually been temporary, and the independ- 
ence of Syria rarely their ultimate object. 

In Mohammedan times it bas sometimes, but not 
always, been the chief city of Syria. Its rival bas 
been Aleppo, which it displaced in the year 1312, by 
command of the Sultan Nasir, anxious to gratify the 
Emir Tengiz, a f aithful partisan, whose daughter the 
Sultan married. When Tengiz came to Cairo to be 
présent when bis grandchild was born, and both spent 
and received fabulous sums, he thankfully prostrated 
himself when the child proved to be a girl: had it 
been a boy, he would bave thought bis luck too great! 
His distrust of fortune was justified; for, ère a year 
was over, the Sultan's face changed towards him, and 
he was summoned from Damascus, imprisoned and, 

[ 405 ] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

executed. The reason for this proceeding is un- 
known, but is said to hâve been the Sultan's resent- 
ment at his harshness towards the Christians of Da- 
mascus, who had been charged with incendiarism. 

In 1366 Aleppo was again given precedence over 
Damascus, and this relation appears to hâve lasted 
until Turkish times. 

Imperfect as is the record of Damascene history, 
the city has more than one historian, and indeed one 
of the most frequently cited monuments of Arabie 
literature is the " History of Damascus," by Ibn 
Asakir, filling some sixty volumes, but occupied for 
the most part with biographies of persons who at any 
time in their lives had any connection with the city. 
Thus a whole volume is devoted to the fîrst Caliph, 
who may perhaps hâve visited it on a trading expédi- 
tion. This author lived in the sixth century of Islam, 
and many exciting scènes hâve taken place in the city 
since his time. Thèse hâve their historians, but the 
centre of interest in the Islamic world has usually 
been elsewhere. Syrian history is either Egyptian 
history or Turkish history: those who write it are 
more concerned with the succession of Sultans at the 
capital than with that of governors in the provinces. 

Of the scènes that hâve been enacted in Damascus 
four of spécial interest hâve been selected for descrip- 
tion: one, the taking of the city by the first Moslem 
conquerors, as told by the most trustworthy of Mos- 
lem chroniclers, and also as told in one of the 
romances which were inspired by the exploits of those 
who had to repel the Crusaders; another the brief 

[406] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

period of sunshine enjoyed by the Christians at the 
time of the first Mongol conquest; and the third the 
destruction of the city by the terrible Timur. The 
last occasion on which Damascus was the focus of 
gênerai attention, the massacre of 1860, is told after 
an anonymous Arabie author; it has also, it may be 
observed, been portrayed with remarkable skill by the 
author of the admirable novel " Sa'id the Fisher- 
man," in which Oriental thought and manners are de- 
lineated with an accuracy rarely to be found in either 
history or fiction. 

CAPTURE OF DAMASCUS BY THE MOSLEMS 
A. D. 634 (A. H. 13) After Tabari 

When outposts have been despatched to guard the 
roads between Damascus and Emesa, and Damascus 
and Palestine, the city was itself invested, where the 
governor was Nastus, son of Nastus. Différent de- 
tachments of Moslems were posted at différent 
quarters; their commanders being Abu Ubaidah, 
Amr and Yazid. Heraclius was at the time in 
Emesa, but steps had been taken to deal with 
relief coming thence. The place was besieged some 
seventy nights, during which varions assaults were 
made, and engines made to play on the walls, within 
which the inhabitants were entrenched, expecting 
relief from Heraclius, who was so near, and to 
whom they had sent for help. The cavalry 
despatched by the Emperor in answer to this ap- 

I407] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

peal were intercepted by Dhu' 1-Kula, who had 
beeiî stationed at a day's journey from Damascus on 
the Emesa road, and whose camp the relief forces 
from Heraclius were compelled to besiege. When 
the Damascenes became convinced that no help 
would arrive, they became despondent and down- 
hearted, while the Moslems were ail the more eager 
to take the place. At fîrst the inhabitants had sup- 
posed that this was an ordinary raid, and that when 
the cold weather came on, the besiegers would with- 
draw; and now the Pleiads fell, and the besiegers 
still remained. This made the Damascenes despair, 
and the troops regretted that they had shut them- 
selves up in the city. Now it so happened that a 
child was born to the Patrician who was governor 
of Damascus. He, in conséquence, gave a banquet, 
and in conséquence of the feasting the soldiers 
neglected their stations. None of the Moslems per- 
ceived this except Khalid, who neither took nor 
allowed others any rest, nor sufïered anything that 
was going on in the town to escape him. Keen of 
vision, he was always attentive to that on which he 
was engaged. He had prepared a set of rope- 
ladders with nooses. When evening was come, he 
with a pîcked party started out, taking the lead him- 
self, with al-Ka'ka, son of Amr, and Madh'ur, son of 
Adi, and some other men of the same stamp, who had 
served him on similar enterprises before. Their in- 
structions to their followers were to wait until they 
heard the cry, Allah Akbar (God is greatest!) from 
the walls, when they should make for the gâte. 

[408] 





(i) SYRIAN TILE. OF THE XX'IIIth CEXTUKY, FKOM A DAMASCL'S >rOSgrE. 
(2) SYRIAN TILE, XVIth OR XVIIth CENTURY, FROM A DAMASCL'S MOSQUE. 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

When Khalid had corne to the gâte opposite which he 
was stationed, he and his picked men, having on their 
backs the inflated skins with which they had crossed 
the ditch, threw their nooses at the battlements; and 
when two had caught, al-Ka'ka and Madh'ur climbed 
up, whereupon they proceeded to fix ail the other 
rope-ladders to the battlements. The place they were 
storming was one of the best fortified in Damascus, 
having the deepest water in front of it, and being 
most difficult to approach. However, they suc- 
ceeded in ascending it, and every one of their party 
either climbed up the wall, or drew near to the gâte. 
Having reached the top of the wall Khalid let his 
comrades down, and descended himself, after leaving 
a party to guard the ascent for such as should follow: 
those on the top of the wall then raised the cry, Allah 
Akbar. The Moslems outside advanced to the gâte, 
some of them, however, making for the rope-ladders ; 
Khalid meanwhile had got to the gâte, where he 
slew the warders. There rose a great uproar in the 
city, and the soldiers rushed to their stations, not 
knowing what was the matter; and while each party 
was concerned with its own part of the wall, Khalid 
and his followers smashed the bolts of the gâte with 
their swords, and let the Moslems in. They pro- 
ceeded to slay ail the soldiers in the neighbourhood 
of Khalid's gâte, and when Khalid had thus stormed 
his portion of the city, such as escaped ran to the 
gâtes where other detachments of the Moslem army 
had been stationed. Thèse had repeatedly ofïered 
terms to the inhabitants which had been refused; and 

[411] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

now to their surprise the inhabitants themselves were 
ofïering terms of capitulation, which the Moslems 
accepted. The gâtes were then opened to thèse other 
detachments, whom the inhabitants begged to enter 
and protect them from those who were coming in by 
Khalid's gâte. Thus the other detachment entered 
by treaty, while Khalid took his part by storm; 
Khalid and the other commanders met in the middle 
of the city, the first plundering and massacring, the 
second quieting disturbance and preserving order. 
Khalid's portion was then brought within the terms 
of the treaty. The treaty was that ail property, 
landed and coined, should be equally divided be- 
tween the inhabitants and the Moslems; and a dinar 
was demanded per head of the population. When 
the spoil was divided, Khalid's troops only shared 
like the others. 

THE TAKING OF DAMASCUS BY THE MOSLEMS 

According to the Arabie romance called Wakidis 
Conquest of Syria 

Abu Ubaidah had stationed his captains at the 
various gâtes of Damascus; sorties and battles took 
place at each one of them except the Gâte of St. 
Mark, which was never opened for this purpose, and 
so was afterwards called the Gâte of Safety or Peace. 
Damascus was under the command of Thomas, 
son-in-law of the Emperor Heraclius. [This Thomas 
is represented as a brave man; but in one of 

[412] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

the sorties he loses the Great Cross, and îs shot 
in the eye by Umm Aban, daughter of Utbah, 
whose husband he had killed. The arrow cannot 
afterwards be got out, and the end has to be 
sawn ofï. This wound only infuriates Thomas, who 
orders a night sortie. The Christians issue from the 
gâtes, and the Jews help them by discharging missiles 
from the battlements. Khalid, whose business it has 
been to guard the women and children, is so alarmed 
by this night attack, that he leaves his camp and 
rushes unarmed to the fray at the head of 400 horse. 
A terrible duel takes place, outside the Gâte of 
Thomas, between Thomas himself and the Moslem 
commander Shurahbil, once the Prophet's secretary. 
Umm Aban tries to help the latter, as before, with 
her arrows, but at last she is taken captive, and Shu- 
rahbiPs sword is broken. Thomas is about to take 
him prisoner also, when the horsemen come up in 
time and rescue both captives. The resuit of the 
sortie is in gênerai so disastrous to the " Greeks," that 
w^hen the gâtes are once more closed, a deputation 
approaches Thomas, telling him that if he will not 
make terms with the enemy they will without him, 
and he begs for time to send word to the Emperor.] 
The letter was written and sealed and sent ofï be- 
fore morning, but when morning came Khalid 
ordered a renewed assault, and refused to give the 
Damascenes a moments truce for délibération. 
Worn out with the siège and waiting for the answer 
of the Emperor, the chief people at last assembled, 
and said to each other, " Friends, we cannot endure 

[413] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

any longer what the Moslems are doing to us; if we 
fight against them, they are always victorious, 
whereas if we refrain from fîghting and shut our- 
selves up in the city we shall be ruined by the siège. 
Let us no longer be obstinate, but rather ask peace of 
them on their own terms." Then there rose up an old 
Greek, who had read the Ancient Books and pond- 
ered on them, and said : *^ Friends, I am certain that 
if the king were to come with ail his forces he could 
not raise the siège; for I hâve read in the Books that 
their founder Mohammed is the Seal of the Prophets 
and the Prince of the Apostles, and that his religion 
is bound to triumph over every other. Let us, there- 
fore, abandon ail vain hopes and fancies and give the 
Moslems the terms they demand; that is our best 
course." When the people heard this utterance, 
they took the old man's side, owing to the respect 
in which he was held and to his knowledge of 
the records and the stories of wars. So they asked 
him how they should set about it. " You are to 
know," he replied, " that the commander at the east- 
ern gâte is a shedder of blood [meaning Khalid, son 
of al-Walid]. If, therefore, you wish hostilities to 
cease, you had best go to the commander at Bab al- 
Jabiyah [meaning Abu Ubaidah]." They approved 
his suggestion ; and, when night came on, they went 
in a body to Bab al-Jabiyah, and one of them, who 
was acquainted with Arabie, cried out in a loud 
yoice, " Ye Arabs, hâve we a safe-conduct that we 
may come down unto you and speak with your com- 
mander, that we may make a treaty of peace? " 

[414] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

Now Abu Ubaidah had sent some of hîs soldiers 
to keep watch near the gâte, fearing a surprîse like 
that which had taken place on a previous night. The 
party sent that night were Dausites, commanded by 
Amir, son of Tufail. ^^ While we were seated in 
our places," said Abu Hurairah, a member of the 
tribe, " we heard the people shouting. I immedi- 
ately rushed to Abu Ubaidah and gave him the good 
news, saying to him, ^ There is a chance now that God 
may relieve the Moslems of their fatigue.' My mes- 
sage cheered him, and he bade me go and tell the 
Romans that they should be safe till they had got 
back to their city. So I went and called to them 
that they might come down without harm. They 
asked me which of Mohammed's followers I was, 
and whether I could be trusted? I replied that I was 
Abu Hurairah, a companion of the Prophet, and 
that treachery was not our custom. ' Why,' I said, 
^ if one of our slaves were to give a guarantee of 
security, we should respect it; since God says, " Keep 
promises, for a promise is to be claimed." The Arabs 
were always celebrated for good faith in the times 
of paganism; much more then when God has given 
them Mohammed for a guide.' " 

So the Greeks descended and opened the gâte. 
Those that came out were a hundred in number, men 
of note, priests and doctors of theology. When they 
came near Abu Ubaidah's camp, the Moslems 
hastened, and divested them of their belts (this 
zonarion was part of the Christian costume in Mos- 
lem countries) and crosses, when they were led to 

[415] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the tent of Abu Ubaidah, who bade them welcome, 
rose up to greet them, and bade them be seated. 
Mohammed, he observed, bade us treat with honour 
visitors who were honoured in their own country. 
The subject of peace was then started. "We wish 
you," they said, " to leave us our churches, and not 
to turn us out of them; thèse being the Church of St. 
John (now the Mosque), the Church of St. Mary, 
of Ananias, of St. Paul, of al-Miksat, of the 
Night Market, of St. Andrew, of Quirinarius (by 
the house of Humaid, son of Durrah)." Abu 
Ubaidah agreed to this, and to ail their stipulations. 
He then drew up a deed of capitulation, to which, 
however, he neither attached his own name nor those 
of witnesses; being unwilling to act as commander, 
after he had been deposed from that office by Abu 
Bakr. 

When he had made out the document, and handed 
ît over to them, they asked him to come with them. 
So he mounted, and took with him thirty-five com- 
panions of the Prophet, and sixty-five undistinguished 
Moslems, and rode up to the gâte; before, however, 
he would enter the city he demanded hostages, which 
they at once produced. 

Others, however, say that he did not demand 
hostages, relying instead on God. For in the night 
on which the agreement was made, after saying his 
prayer, he had fallen asleep, and seen the Prophet in 
a dream; who uttered the words, " This night shall 
the city be taken, if God will." The Prophet then 
hastened away. Abu Ubaidah asked whither he 

[416] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

was hurrying, and was told that it was to the funeral 
of Abu Bakr. When Abu Ubaidah awoke f rom his 
sleep, there was Abu Hurairah, bringing the tidings 
of the ofïer of terms. So he took no hostages, relying 
on God's Word. 

He then entered the city, preceded by the priests 
and the monks, clad in sackcloth, holding up copies 
of the Gospel, and censers filled with incense. The 
day was Monday, Jumada IL, 13 A. H. (August 22, 

634). 

Abu Ubaidah entered at the Bab al-Jabiyah, 
Khalid having no knowledge of what was going on, 
since he was engaged in a fierce fight at the eastern 
gâte. He was greatly incensed against the Dama- 
scenes, because another Khalid, son of Sa'id, brother 
of Amr, son of al-As on the mother's side, had been 
killed with a poisoned arrow; Khalid, son of al- 
iWalid, had prayed over him when he was buried 
between the Eastern Gâte and the Gâte of Thomas. 
Now there was a Greek priest named Joshua, son of 
Mark, living in a house close to that part of the wall 
which adjoined the eastern gâte. He possessed the 
" Oracles of Daniel," and other books, whence he 
knew that God would put the city into the hands of 
the Moslems, and that their religion would prevail 
over every other. On the Sunday night preceding 
the day of which the date has been given, he made a 
hole in the wall and went outside without his wife 
or children knowing anything of it. Corning before 
Khalid, he told him how he had dug a hole in the 
wall, through which he had corne out, and asked 

[417] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

that his life and the lives of hîs famîly should be 
guaranteed. Khalid gave hîs hand upon that, and 
sent with him a hundred men with their armour, 
most of them of the tribe of Himyar. They had 
orders, when they got into the city, to shout al- 
together, and to make for the door, of which they 
were to smash the bolts and fling away the chains. 
The men were then preceded by Joshua, son of Mark, 
who led them in by the hole which he had made, and 
when they got into the house they put on their 
armour, then issued forth and made for the gâte, 
where they raised the cry, Allah Akbar. The 
Greeks were fighting on the wall, and when they 
heard this cry they were alarmed, and felt sure that 
the Companions of the Prophet must hâve entered 
the city with them ; and they were greatly distressed. 
Then the commander of the party got to the gâte and 
broke the bolts and eut the chains, so that Khalid and 
his followers were able to enter. They began to 
slaughter the Romans, who retreated before him till 
he reached the Church of St. Mary, ail the way kill- 
ing or taking prisoners. 

So the two hosts met in the church of St. Mary, 
those of Khalid and of Abu Ubaidah. Khalid be- 
held a procession led by priests and monks whom 
Abu Ubaidah foUowed, none of his followers having 
their swords drawn, or fighting. He was amazed 
thereat, and gazed in wonder. Abu Ubaidah, per- 
ceiving in his face the signs of disapproval, said to 
him, " Abu Sulaiman, the city has been taken by me 
under an agreement, and God has saved the Moslems 

[418] 




MINARET OF THE BRIDE. DAMASCUS. 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

the trouble of fighting." " Agreement? " said 
Khalid, " God make your circumstances anything 
but agreeable! I bave taken the city by storm, and 
tbere are no defenders left; what agreement can I 
make with them?" Abu Ubaidah replied, " Com- 
mander, fear God; I bave covenanted with thèse 
people, and the arrow bas been discharged with what 
is upon it [i.e. the matter is irrévocable]. I hâve 
written the contract, and see tbere it is in their hands 
unfolded." ^' How dare you make agreements with- 
out my order and without giving me notice? " replied 
Khalid; ^' am I not your chief, and are not you under 
my flag? No, I will not sheathe the sword until I 
bave slain them every one!" Abu Ubaidah cried, 
^' By Allah, I never thought that you would disallow 
any covenant that I had made, or disapprove of any 
opinion that I had expressed. I adjure you by 
God, respect what I bave done. I bave given my 
guarantee to them ail, and pledged thereto the faith 
of God and of the Prophet. Ail the Moslems who 
were with me assented thereunto, and treachery is not 
our custom. God bave mercy on you." 

A fierce quarrel broke out between them, and the 
spectators took sides. Khalid was unwilling to 
change bis resolution, and Abu Ubaidah looked at 
the foUowers of Khalid, Bédouins and old cam- 
paigners, and saw that they were eager for rapine 
and slaughter, and unwilling to spare a life. He 
began to cry with bitterness that he had been 
afïronted and bis promise disregarded; and, setting 
spurs to bis horse, he began to point to the Arabs, now 

[421] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

right and now left, and adjure them by the Prophet 
to move no further in the direction whence he had 
corne, till some arrangement might be corne to be- 
tween himself and Khalid. At his entreaty they 
stopped slaying and pillaging, and a number of the 
captains gathered together at the church where they 
had met with the view of délibération. Some of 
thèse captains urged the advisability of carrying out 
Abu Ubaidah's wishes on the ground that Syria was 
as yet imperfectly conquered, and that Heraclius was 
still at Antioch. If the rumour spread that having 
once made terms the Moslems had violated them, no 
other city would capitulate by agreement; and sec- 
ondly, it would be better to hâve the Christians of 
Damascus peaceful subjects than to slaughter them. 
It was then agreed that each of the two commanders 
should retain possession of the part of the city which 
he had got, and write to ask the Caliph's décision by 
which they should abide. To this Khalid assented. 
Presently, much against Khalid's wishes, the two 
governors, Thomas and Arabius, are allowed to leave 
the city with quantities of treasure, with a promise 
that they shall not be molested within three days of 
their departure. Khalid makes up his mind to fol- 
low them when that period has elapsed. 

And now there follows a romance in the stricter 
sensé of the word. " I was," said one Wathilah, 
" among the horsemen whom Khalid employed to 
patrol between the gâtes under command of Dirar, 
son of al-Azwar. On one moonlight night before 
Damascus was taken, we were near the Kaisan Gâte, 

[ 422 ] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

when, hearing the hinges creak, we stopped. The 
gâte was opened, a horseman came out, whom we al- 
lowed to proceed till he came near us, when we 
arrested him, telling him that if he uttered a word 
he would be beheaded. Two other mounted men 
then came out and stood on guard at the gâte. They 
called to our prisoner by his name, and we bade him 
reply and decoy them out. He called to them in 
Greek, ^ The bird is in the net,' whence they learned 
that he was arrested, and hastened inside and locked 
the gâte. We wanted to kill the prisoner, but some 
of us suggested that he should be taken to the Com- 
mander, who might décide what should be done with 
him. When Khalid saw the man, he asked him who 
he was. He answered, ^ I am a patrician, one of the 
rulers of Syria. Before your arrivai I was betrothed 
to a maiden of my people whom I deeply love. As 
the siège became protracted, I asked her people to let 
the marriage take place, but they refused, saying that 
they had other things to think about. Being anxious 
to meet the maiden, I made an appointment with her 
that we should both be présent at the city sports. 
There we met and conversed, when she asked me to 
take her to the city gâte, where I left her, and came 
out to reconnoitre when I was caught by your men. 
My two friends with the maiden came out after me, 
but I called out to them that the bird was in the net 
to warn them, for fear the maiden might be made 
prisoner. Had it been anyone else I should not hâve 
minded.' Khalid suggested to him that he should 
embrace Islam, in which case, should the city be 

[423] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

taken, he should wed hîs bride. * Otherwise,' he 
said, * I shall kill you.' The patrician elected to 
become a Moslem, and testified that there was no God 
but Allah and Mohammed was His Prophet. He 
then showed himself a doughty warrior on our 
sîde. 

" When we entered the cîty in virtue of the capitu- 
lation, he went to look for his bride, and was told that 
she had become a nun out of grief for him. He went 
to the church and saw her, but she did not recognise 
him. He asked her what had induced her to take 
the veil. She replied that she had taken it because 
she had caused her betrothed to risk his life and be 
captured by the Arabs. She had become a nun out 
of grief over him. He said, ^ I am thy betrothed; I 
hâve embraced the religion of the Arabs, and thou 
art now under my protection.' When she heard his 
words she cried out, * No, by the Lord Jésus! Never! 
This cannot be!' She left Damascus with the two 
patricians, Thomas and Arabius. When her be- 
trothed saw that she was determined to discard him, 
he went and complained to Khalid. Khalid in- 
formed him that Abu Ubaidah had taken the city by 
capitulation, and that he had no control over her. 
Knowing, however, that Khalid intended foUowing 
the refugees, he ofïered to go with the commander on 
the chance of finding his bride. Khalid waited until 
the fourth day after their departure; and when he 
did not start, the Greek came and asked him whether 
after ail he intended following the two miscreants, 
and taking from them what they had got. Khalid 

[424] 




DAMASCUS: MINAKKT OV JESUS. 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

replied that such had been his intention, but that he 
was kept from executing it by the distance which 
now lay between him and them, since the refugees 
had been hastened by their terror, and they could not 
now be overtaken. The patrician, whose name was 
Jonas, said that the distance was no sufficient reason 
for abandoning the enterprise, since he knew the 
country and could take Khalid's forces by short cuts 
which would enable them to overtake the party, and 
that he would willingly do this on the chance of re- 
covering his bride. After assuring Khalid that he 
was acquainted with the country, he advised that 
Khalid's followers should don the attire of the Chris- 
tian Arab tribes, Lakhm and Judham, and take suffi- 
cient provision for the journey. The people did as 
he advised. Khalid coUected his 4000 guards, and 
ordered them to mount the fleetest of their horses, 
and reduce their store of provisions to the lightest 
possible weight. They then started, Khalid having 
left Abu Ubaidah in charge of the city. 

" So we rode, guided by Jonas, who followed their 
trail, which, indeed, we could often make out our- 
selves, not only from the track of the horses and 
mules, but also because any mount, camel or mule, 
that fell was left by them, and any horse that could 
not proceed was hamstrung. We rode on night and 
day, stopping only at prayer-times, till the trail came 
to an end. This alarmed us, and Khalid asked Jonas 
what he had to say about it. ^ Commander,' he 
replied, ^ ride on and ask God's aid; the refugees 
hâve turned out of the road for fear of you, and taken 

[427] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

to the mountains and passes; still we hâve ail but 
overtaken them.' 

" Then he made the Moslems turn aside f rom the 
road, and took them through ravines and over moun- 
tains and stoneheaps. ^ He took us,' said one of the 
party, ^ over a very stony track, out of which a man 
could with difficulty extricate himself. We com- 
pelled our horses to go among the stones, and could 
see the blood oozing from their hocks, and their 
shoes falling ofï their hoofs. Our own shoes were 
eut to pièces, and only the uppers left.' Another 
member of the party said, " I w^s with Khalid on 
that expédition, and we had to follow the guide. I 
had a pair of leather shoes with Yemen soles, of 
which I was very proud, and which I fancied would 
last me for years. On that night nothing remained 
of them but the uppers on my legs. I was afraid of 
the results of the rough and difficult mountain path 
that we had traversed, and perceived that the others 
were complaining and wishing that the guide had 
kept to the beaten track. However, before night was 
over we had got over the worst part, and emerged 
into the main road, where the guide hoped that we 
should hâve come up with the fugitives; but when 
we had reached it, we saw their track, and found that 
they had got in front of us, by forced marches appar- 
ently. Khalid said, ^ They hâve escaped us.' But the 
guide Jonas said, ^ I hâve hopes that God Almighty 
will detain them till we can come up with them, if 
He will. So let us hasten.' Khalid accordingly 
bade the men bestir themselves. The Moslems said, 

[ 428 ] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

* Commander, the difficult path has worn us out, so 
let us rest and give our horses food and rest also.' 
But he said, ^ Move on in the name of God, for it is 
God who bids you march; hasten in pursuit of your 
enemies.' 

" So they hastened, the guide showing the way, and 
also acting as our interpréter, and whatever village 
we entered, the people there thought us Christian 
Arabs of the tribes Ghassan, Lakhm, or Judham. 
He took us past Gibili and Latakieh, and brought us 
at last within sight of the sea, still following the trail. 
And then we saw that the fugitives had passed by 
Latakieh without entering it for fear of the Emperor 
Heraclius. Jonas was amazed at this, and going to 
a village near asked some of the proprietors v^hat 
had happened; and they informed him that the Em- 
peror Heraclius hearing that Thomas and Arabius 
had delivered the city of Damascus to the Moslems, 
w^as exceedingly angry, and had not permitted them 
to approach him; bis purpose being to collect an 
army and despatch it to Yarmuk. He was afraid of 
their telling the soldiers about the courage of the 
Prophet's Companions, and so disheartening them; 
he had therefore sent orders to them to proceed with 
their company to Constantinople, and not to enter 
Latakieh. When the Damascene Jonas heard that 
the fugitives had gone ofï in the direction of the sea, 
he was vexed and alarmed for the Moslems, and un- 
certain what to do. He was in f avour of going back, 
but Khalid encouraged the Moslems by narrating a 
dream which appeared to promise success. Heavy 

[431] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

rains now delay the fugitives, and after some more 
time spent in pursuit, the Moslems reach a spot 
where they can hear sounds which seem to proceed 
from the Christian host. Jonas with another ascend 
a mountain called by the Greeks Jebel Barik (the 
Lightning Mountain), and see below a fertile 
meadow, green and flowery, in the middle of which 
the Christians are loitering, worn out with fatigue 
and wet with the rain. Many are asleep, and the 
loads hâve been taken ofï many of their beasts. 

" The good news is brought to Khalid by the two 
scouts, and Jonas takes care to stipulate that his bride 
must be reserved for his own possession, should she 
be captured by anyone else. Khalid then divides his 
party into four troops who charge the fugitives from 
différent sides. The Christians resist, supposing at 
fîrst that the Arabs are a small detachment whom 
they can easily overcome, but they find themselves 
involved in a terrible conflict. 

" Said one of those who were présent: ^ I was in 
Khalid^s right wing, and had gone with my band to 
attack the part of the Christian host that contained 
the women, children and baggage. I observed the 
Greek women defending themselves vigorously, and 
I noticed a horseman attired in Greek style dismount 
and commence fîghting with a Greek woman, each 
of whom displayed great véhémence. I approached 
to see who it was. It was Jonas fîghting with his 
bride, and the struggle was like one between lion and 
lioness.' 

" For a time this spectator was occupied with a 

[432] 




Il 



\^ 



'M^^^. I 



■-^s^- 




SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

fight on his own account, having endeavoured to cap- 
ture a number of Greek women, one of whom killed 
his horse. He succeeded, however, in making her 
his prisoner, and she turned out to be Heraclius's 
daughter. But before leaving the field he wished to 
see what had become of Jonas. * Finally I found 
him sitting with his bride before him, she weltering 
in blood and he in tears. I asked him what had 
happened. He said, " This is my bride, my sole 
object of pursuit. I loved her dearly. When I saw 
her, I said, ^ See, I hâve overtaken thee, and shalt 
thou escape from my hand '? She said, ^ By the Lord 
Jésus, thou and I shall never be united, seeing thou 
hast left thy faith and entered into the religion of 
Mohammed. I hâve given myself to Christ, and 
am on my way to Constantinople, there to enter a 
convent.' Then she fought for her liberty, and I 
fought with her till I had made her my prisoner; 
and when she saw that she was taken, she drew out a 
knife and plunged it into her breast, and fell down 
dead. And see I am weeping over her, broken- 
hearted." ' " 

(This story is no mean tribute from a Moslem 
writer to the heroism of Christian women.) 

THE TAKING OF DAMASCUS BY HULAGU 
After D'Ohsoon 

On January 29, 1260, Nasir, great-grandson of 
Saladin, prince of Damascus, hearing of tKe sack of 
Aleppo, was persuaded by his gênerais to retreat in 

[435] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

the direction of Egypt, leaving Damascus unde- 
fended. By his order ail the chief inhabitants, sol- 
diers as well as citizens, departed hastily for Egypt, 
some after selling their goods at ruinons priées. 
Seven hundred silver dirhems was the hire of a 
camel. 

After the departure of Nasir the Emir Zain al-din 
Sulaiman, better known as Zain al-Hafizi, closed the 
gâtes of the city, assembled the notables, and agreed 
with them to deliver Damascus to the Mongols in 
order to spare the blood of the people. In consé- 
quence a deputation, composed of the chief inhabi- 
tants, left for the Mongol camp at Aleppo, taking 
with them some rich présents and the keys of the city. 
Hulagu bestowed a robe of honour on the head of the 
deputation, the Judge Muhyi'1-din, son of al-Zaki, 
and nominated him chief judge of Syria. This per- 
sonage immediately thereupon returned to Damascus, 
where he assembled the doctors and notables, before 
whom clad in his robe of honour he read out the 
letters nominating him to his new post. He then pub- 
lished an edict whereby Hulagu promised the inhab- 
itants of Damascus the security of their lives. 

The Mongol chief then sent two commanders, one 
a Mongol the other a Persian, to Damascus, with in- 
structions to follow the advice of Zain al-Hafizi, and 
treat the inhabitants well. A short time after there 
arrived the gênerai, Kitubogha, with a detachment of 
Mongol troops. The city sent to meet them a dep- 
utation of sheiks and notables, carrying banners 
and copies of the Koran. The new governor re- 

[436] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

newed the edict promising security, and saw that 
neither life nor property was violated. 

When the Christians of Damascus saw the city 
occupied by Mongol troops, they produced an order 
of Hulagu, granting them protection, and armed 
with this they proceeded to defy their oppressors. 
Mohammedan historians relate with indignation 
how they drank wine publicly, even in the fasting 
month, spilling it on the garments of the Moslems 
and the doors of the mosques; how they compelled 
the Moslems to rise when they passed with the Cross 
before the Moslem shops; insulting any who refused 
to do so. They ran through the streets singing 
psalms and proclaiming that Christ's religion was 
the true one ; they went so far as to pull down mosques 
and minarets that were close to their churches. The 
outraged Moslems made complaint to the Mongol 
governor ; but he being a Christian disregarded them, 
and caused some of them to be beaten; whereas he 
treated the Christian priests with great respect, 
visited the churches, and took the Christian leaders 
under his protection. On the other hand the chief 
Judge Zain al-Hafîzi extorted large sums of money 
from the inhabitants, with which he purchased valu- 
able fabrics which he presented to the Mongol 
chiefs ; and every day he sent them loads of provisions 
for their banquets. 

The Citadel had not yet capitulated. Kitubogha 
began the siège on the night of March 21, and bat- 
tered the place with twenty catapults until April 6, 
when it yielded. The Mongols sacked it, burned the 

[437] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

buildings which it contained, demolished most of the 
towers, and destroyed ail the military engines. Zain 
al-Hafizi wrote to Hulagu to ask for instructions 
with regard to the commander of the Citadel and his 
adjutant, who had been made prisoners; he received 
as reply their death-warrant, and proceeded to 
exécute them himself; he beheaded them at Marj 
Barghuth, where Kitubogha had placed his camp. 

In September of the same year was fought the 
battle of Ain Jalut at which the Mongols were de- 
feated by the forces of the Egyptian Sultan. The 
Mongol camp, with the women and children, fell 
into the power of the victors. Hulagu's governors 
were assassinated in a number of towns. Those who 
were in Damascus were able to escape in time. When 
the news reached this place, the Mongol commanders 
and their partisans immediately made ofï, but 
they were plundered by the country people. The 
Mongol occupation of Damascus had lasted seven 
months and ten days. 

From Tiberias, a day or two after his victory, the 
Sultan addressed a letter to the city of Damascus, 
proclaiming the victory which had been vouchsafed 
him by God. The news caused transports of joy, be- 
cause the Moslems were despairing of ever being 
delivered from the yoke of the Mongols, who till 
then had appeared invincible. The Moslem in- 
habitants immediately rushed to the houses of the 
Christians, which they pillaged and ruined; many 
Christians were killed. The churches of St. James 
and St. Mary were burned. The Jews had to sufïer 

[438] 




e^^^^ 




SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

similarly. Their houses and shops were completely 
looted, and armed force had to be employed to pre- 
vent the people from setting fire to their dwellings 
and synagogues. Then came the turn of those Mos- 
lems who had acted as partisans and agents of the 
Mongols; they were massacred. A few days later 
Kotuz arrived with his army before Damascus, and 
remained in camp for two days before entering the 
city. He ordered the exécution of several Moslems 
who had taken the Mongol side, and had thirty 
Christians hung. He then imposed on the Christian 
population a fine of 150,000 dirhems. 

THE DESTRUCTION OF DAMASCUS BY TIMUR 
After Ibn lyas 

The Sultan Faraj had, on hearing of the advance of 
Timur into Syria, come to Damascus in person, where 
he had scored some slight victories over the outpost of 
the Mongol invader, and received large accessions of 
deserters. News, however, of an attempted révolu- 
tion at home caused him to withdraw suddenly, leav- 
ing Damascus exposed to the attack of Timur. Hear- 
ing of the approach of the Mongols, the people of 
Damascus on Saturday 21 Jumada I., 803 (January 
8, 1400), were in great dismay, and locked the gâtes 
of the city. They mounted the walls, and began to 
shoot at Timur's army, and dragged each other for- 
ward to fight. The fîrst day there was a considérable 
engagement, in which some 2000 of Timur's army 
were killed. On Sunday Tîmur sent requesting that 

[441] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

some eminent and intelligent citizen should be sent to 
act as intermediary, with a view to peace negotia- 
tions. 

When Timur's envoy brought this message, there 
was some discussion as to whom they should send, and 
the choice fînally fell on the Kadi Taki al-din Ibn 
Muflih the Hanbalite, he being a ready speaker, 
skilful in both Turkish and Persian. He was let 
down from the top of the wall in a basket, and with 
him fîve other eminent Damascenes. He stayed 
away a little time, and then returned, when he stated 
that Timur had been exceedingly courteous. " This 
city," he had said, " is the home of the Prophets, and 
I give it its liberty for their sake." He had also 
gone to see the tomb of Umm Habibah (one of the 
Prophètes wives), and expressed his regret that such 
a monument should be without a cupola; he had 
therefore undertaken to provide it with one himself. 
Ibn Muflih further stated that the Mongol prince 
throughout the audience had been frequently men- 
tioning the name of God Almighty, and asking for- 
giveness for his sins, and that he never let the rosary 
drop from his hands. This, however, was as Ibra- 
him al-Mi'mar says: 

As the butcher pronounces the name 
Of the Lord on the beast that he slays: 

So our governor's tyrannous acts 
He préludes with prayer and praise. 

Ibn Muflih was îndeed so éloquent on the virtues of 
Timur that the people of Damascus felt unwilling to 
fîght against such a man, and anxious to be his sub- 

[442] 




A^« 








•I 



,t 



1 i 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

jects. Or rather, they divided into two parties, one 
siding with Ibn Muflih, the other still bent on fîght- 
îng, and deaf to Ibn Muflih's persuasions. At first 
the greater number of the townsfolk were on the 
latter side; but by Monday morning Ibn Muflih had 
secured a majority for his policy, and wished to open 
the Bab al-Nasir. This, however, was opposed by 
the commander of the Citadel, who threatened to 
burn the city if it were done. Ibn Muflih then got 
together a deputation of doctors, judges, and sheiks, 
to demand an audience of Timur, and thèse were let 
down in baskets from the top of the wall. They 
were entertained the Monday night in Timur's 
camp, and sent back to Damascus the next day with 
a proclamation by Timur in nine lines, guarantee- 
ing the Damascenes security. This proclamation 
was read aloud in the Umayyad Mosque, and was 
received with great rejoicing by the people of the 
city, who then opened the Bab Saghir. They felt 
perfectly secure, but God only knows what is in the 
heart, as has been said: 



He whose help I hoped for hit me, 

Like a snake he turned and bit me 

His beaming expression no confidence brîngs, 

Any more than the snake's that can smile when ît stîngs. 



When the gâte was opened, one of Timur's ofiîcers 
took his station there, asserting that it was his busi- 
ness to see that the Mongol troops did no damage. 
Timur then sent for Ibn Muflih, and the latter un- 
dertook to coUect a million dinars from the citizens 

[445] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

of Damascus. This he set about doing immediately 
after the audience, but when the sum was made up 
and brought to Timur, the Mongol made a wry face 
and declared himself dissatified, asserting it was a 
million tomans for which he had stipulated, a to- 
man having the value of ten (million) dinars. Ibn 
Muflih was disconcerted by this demand, and after 
leaving Timur tried every expédient in his power to 
get together the money, applying rack and torture 
to the citizens, demanding ten Syrian dirhems from 
each individual, great or small; three months' rev- 
enue was demanded from ail religious establish- 
ments: and the distress resulting from thèse measures 
was indescribable, especially as priées had risen dur- 
ing the siège, a bushel of wheat fetching forty Syrian 
dirhems. Public prayer and preaching were aban- 
doned, and one of Timur's captains, named Shah 
Malik, took up his quarters with his women folk in 
the Umayyad Mosque, of which he locked the door; 
he took up the carpets and the matting of the mosque, 
and with them blocked up the openings in the walls, 
and he with his soldiers proceeded to drink wine, 
beat drums and play dice in the Mosque. While this 
lasted, there was no call to prayer or any public 
worship in any of the sanctuaries; business was at a 
standstill, and the markets empty, while each day 
more and more of Timur's troops entered the city, 
till it became full of them, and they proceeded to lay 
siège to the Citadel. This was delivered up to the 
Mongols after twenty-nine days' siège, when the gov- 
ernor thought there was no prospect of saving it. 

[446] 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

The Mongols took possession of everything, anîmate 
and inanimate, which it contained, and, indeed, of 
the whole city. Ibn Muflih then made a second 
présentation of money to Timur, who told him that 
what he had brought amounted in Mongol reckon- 
ing to three million dinars ; there were thus still seven 
millions owing. The fîrst stipulation made by the 
Mongol with Ibn Muflih had been for a million 
dinars, exclusive of the goods, arms and beasts left 
by the Egyptian Sultan and his officers when they 
went away. Returning from the audience Ibn 
Muflih had a proclamation made that whoever had 
in his keeping any property left on trust by the 
Sultan, his ofiîcers or his soldiers, should immediately 
produce it. The order was obeyed, and the whole 
brought before Timur, who told Ibn Muflih he must 
now bring the property of ail Damascene merchants 
and persons of eminence who had left the city. 
When ail this had been brought, Ibn Muflih was told 
to bring ail the beasts of burden in the city, horses, 
mules, camels and asses; thèse were brought to the 
number of 12,000 head. Next he was told to collect 
and bring ail weapons of any sort, however good or 
bad. After thèse had been fetched, Ibn Muflih was 
ordered to make out a list of ail the quarters and 
streets of Damascus. When Ibn Muflih had made 
out a set of tables, and brought them to Timur, he 
was told finally to apportion the sum of 7,000,000 
dinars which was still owing according to the terms 
of the capitulation. Ibn Muflih replied that there 
was not a gold or silver coin left in the place. At 

[449] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

this Timur was angry, and commanded Ibn Muflih 
and his assistants to be arrested and put in irons. 
" Cautérisation is the , leech's last expédient/' It 
turned out then as bas been said: 



A kîng's intent îs gall to eat 

Coated with honey from outsider 

So he who tastes it thinks it sweet 
Till he find out what it doth hide. 



Timur then distributed the tickets containing the 
names of the streets among his officers, and the whole 
army was introduced within the walls. Each officer 
stationed himself in a street, and demanded of its 
inhabitants an impossible sum. Each householder 
would be made to stand in his rags at the door of his 
house, and bidden to pay the sum allotted to him; 
when he replied that he had nothing left, he would 
be violently beaten, his house entered, and ail the 
furniture and copper utensils would be taken away, 
He with ail his family would then be dragged out, 
and his wives and daughters would be violated be- 
fore his eyes. The maie children after being made 
to undergo similar atrocities would be beaten, and 
the scourging of the householder himself continued 
while ail this was donc. Ingénions forms of torture 
were devised; hempen cord would be tied round a 
man's head and tightened till it sank in ; then it would 
be put under his arms, and his thumbs be tied to- 
gether behind his back; then he would be made to 
lie on his back, and a cloth containing hot ashes be 
put over him. Men were suspended by their great 

[450} 




•Vf^^' 



SCENES FROM HISTORY OF DAMASCUS 

toes, and fires lighted under them, till they either 
died of the agony or fell into the blaze. Timur's 
soldiers did such things as it whitens the hair to hear 
of. Nineteen days did thèse atrocities continue; on 
Wednesday, the eighteenth of Rejeb of the year 803 
(March 4, 1400), Damascus was entered by an army 
like the waves of the sea, ail foot-soldiers, with drawn 
swords in their hands. Thèse looted whatever re- 
mained in the city, and bound the men, women and 
children, whom they dragged ofï in ropes not know- 
ing whither they were to be taken. They left in the 
city infants under four years of âge, and decayed old 
women and men. The rest were led ofï. 

On Thursday the fîrst of Sha'ban (March 17, 
1400), Timur ordered the city of Damascus to be set 
on fire, which was donc; a pyre blazed which dis- 
charged sparks as big as yellow camels. The Umay- 
yad Mosque was burned till ail left was a wall stand- 
ing with no roof, nor door nor marble ; most of the 
mosques and oratories of Damascus were burned 
also, as were the market-places and the magazines 
which had fîrst been plundered, and most of the 
streets were destroyed by the fire so as to become un- 
recognisable, as has been said: 

I pass by haunts I once knew well, 
Bright homes of wealth and gladness, 

Only the owls do there now dwell — 
Plague on ye, birds of sadness! 

So Damascus that had been so prosperous, so 
happy, so bright, so luxurious, so magnificent, was 

[453] 



CAIRO, JERUSALEM, AND DAMASCUS 

turned into a heap of ruîns, of desolate remains, 
destitute of ail its beauty and ail its art. Not a liv- 
ing being was moving, nothing was there except 
carcasses partly burned, and figures disfigured with 
dust, covered with a cloak of Aies, and become the 
prey and the spoil of dogs. Even a sagacious man 
could not find the way to his house, nor distinguish 
between a stranger's dwelling and his own. "We 
are God's and to God do we returnl " 



1454] 



APPENDIX 

THE MASSACRE OF 1860 FROM A WORK CALLED 

**THE UNVEILING OF THE TROUBLES 

OF SYRIA" 

^I^^^HERE was at this time in Damascus a gov- 
m (r\ ernor named Ahmad Pasha, who had been 
^L J given control of both the administration 
^^"^ and the army. The whole history of Tur- 
key ofïers no example of a baser, more mischievous or 
more cunning scoundrel. He made it his chief busi- 
ness to stir up angry passions and prépare the way 
for a massacre. The massacres of Hasibiyya and 
Rashiyya were by his orders and under his direction, 
and the Turkish soldiers who carried them out were 
his servants. Circumstances helped him to stir up 
bad blood, especially the rescript in which the Sultan 
proclaimed equality between his subjects in accord- 
ance with the Treaty of Paris. When the Moslems 
perceived that their power of lording it over the 
Christians was gone, that ail communities were now 
equal, and that no sooner had the Christians been 
enfranchised than they had begun to surpass the 
Moslems in wealth, honour, knowledge and every- 
thing else, the latter resented this and harboured 

[4SS] 



APPENDIX 

mischievous designs. Now, one of the articles of the 
Treaty of Paris was that soldiers should be drawn 
from the Christian no less than from the Moslem 
part of the population; the Government, however, 
did not observe this article for reasons that are well 
known, and in lieu of military service levied a heavy 
contribution on the Christians, £50 a head. This 
sum being more than they were able to pay, they 
made repeated complaints and begged the Govern- 
ment to reduce the amount or else permit Christians 
to serve in the army. The Government would not 
listen to thèse appeals, and in the year 1860 insisted 
on the payment of ail arrears. The Orthodox Greek 
Patriarch at that time was a Greek unacquainted 
with the language and character of the people. When 
his flock thronged round him and encompassed his 
résidence, begging his médiation in this matter, he 
wished to disperse them with the aid of the soldiers; 
he therefore wrote to the Governor informing him 
that the Christians were in a turbulent and excited 
State in conséquence of the imposition of the heavy 
military tax, and expressed the hope that the Gover- 
nor would disperse them, as they were crowding 
round his house. The Governor was delighted with 
this communication and kept the letter in his pocket 
to serve as his justification, if necessary, for the mas- 
sacre that he meant to bring about; for in answer to 
any question he could produce the letter of the Patri- 
arch, attesting the fact that the Christians were start- 
ing a riot, which he had been compelled to repress by 
force of arms. 

[456] 



APPENDIX 

By the secret instigations of Ahmad Pasha the ex- 
citement of the Moslems in Damascus increased daily, 
and presently they heard with delight of the mas- 
sacres in Hasibiyya, Rashiyya, Zahlah and Dair al- 
iKamar. With the heroes of Zahlah they had a long 
account to settle, and when they received the news of 
the fall of Zahlah and the massacre of its defenders, 
they decorated Damascus and instituted public re- 
joicings. The Christians looked on but durst not 
interfère; only some of the more distinguished and 
virtuous of the Moslems were displeased with this 
proceeding and extinguished the illuminations, and 
besides went round and urged their co-religionists to 
be sensible and calm. Their laudable efforts had 
little efïect; they were overcome by the Government 
and the mob. At the end of this chapter we shall 
record the names of the noble-minded men, in order 
that their memory and the memory of their services 
may endure in history. As we said, the excitement of 
the Moslems kept increasing daily, whilst the Chris- 
tians had to sufïer contempt and insuit and contumely 
of every sort. Complaint brought no redress and they 
found that application to the Government was use- 
less. Most of them remained shut up in their houses ; 
merchants and employés durst not go out to their busi- 
ness, but passed the time in prayer, méditation and 
délibération. Meanwhile the feeling of the Moslems 
grew worse and worse, and the Christians saw death 
approaching. 

The Consuls, perceiving the state of afïairs, kept 
sending reports to their Governments, and when mat- 

[457] 



APPENDIX 

ters came to a crisis a meeting was field in the house 
of the British Consul, in accordance with his request, 
at which they ail attended. After considering what 
measures they could take to prevent a massacre, they 
agreed to open their houses to refugees from murder 
or pillage; and determined to warn the Governor of 
the conséquences of négligence. The Greek Consul 
was selected to convey their message to the Governor, 
this Consul being skilled in Turkish. He did his 
utmost to impress on the Governor the necessity of 
calming the excitement, but without efïect; Ahmad 
Pasha at first professed absolute ignorance of the 
existence of any excitement, maintaining that the city 
was perfectly quiet. When, however, as the days 
passed, it became impossible for him to deny the f act, 
he began to excuse himself on the plea that the sol- 
(diers whom he had were not sufficient to restrain the 
mob from carrying out their designs. He also began 
to make an exhibition of surprise and anxiety at the 
State of afïairs, but he did not issue a single order to 
the efïect that either the soldiers or the mob should 
be restrained from attacking the Christians. When 
the debate became hot between him and the Consul 
who was commissioned to converse with him, he 
would déclare that the Christians had rebelled against 
the Porte and endeavoured to shake ofï their alle- 
giance; " and this," he said, " I can prove by the let- 
ters of their bishops and chief ecclesiastical authori- 
ties." The Consuls then went in a body to the palace 
of the Governor and insisted that he must do some- 
thing to improve the state of afïairs. Finding he 

[458] 



APPENDIX 

could no longer refuse, he promîsed to 3o as tHey 
wished, and issued an order to the inhabitants and the 
army that they should keep quiet and not molest the 
Christians. This order was partly effective, and the 
Christians experienced a certain amount of relief; 
orders were presently sent by the Governor to such of 
them as were in the employ of the Government, bid- 
ding them hâve no fear, and return to their duties. 
Supposing the excitement to hâve subsided they took 
courage, and people were near imagining that the 
waters had returned to their channels. 

Ahmad Pasha, however, had no idea of letting this 
tranquillity continue, but continued his secret instiga- 
tions, and the army with the mob became even more 
seriously excited than before, whilst the Christians 
were again compelled to conceal themselves from* 
their enemies. Everyone perceived that something 
terrible was about to happen, although the Consuls 
of Great Britain and Greece tried to urge the distin- 
guished Moslems to help them in quieting the excite- 
ment. A few of the best among the Damascenes came 
to their aid, but their efforts were unavailing; for the 
disturbance kept increasing, and the ruffians began to 
thirst more and more for blood. Hearing of this the 
Arabs and other Moslem neighbours of Damascus 
came to the city f rom ail quarters, anxious to gratify 
their resentments by the murder of Christians and 
plunder of Christian goods. Most unfortunately those 
who had escaped from the massacre of Hasibiyya 
arrived in Damascus at that time, bringing with 
them, as it were, the infection of massacre. The ruf- 

[459] 



APPENDIX 

fians could wait no longer, and the Druzes from the 
outside and the Moslems from the inside kept urging 
the Government to issue a rescript giving them leave 
to commence slaying, violating women, plundering 
goods and burning houses. Ahmad Pasha saw that 
the time had come for the exécution of his purpose, 
and fanned the flame by circulating a rumour that 
the Christians were planning a night attack on the 
Moslem quarters, with a gênerai assault, notwith- 
standing that the Christians of Damascus were the 
weakest of God's créatures, not one of whom could 
handle a weapon, and whose only expédient for self- 
defence was imploring mercy or hiding. The wicked 
Governor, whenever he went to public prayer, had 
the troops ranged round the mosque, on the pretence 
that the Christians were meditating an assault on his 
person. By means of thèse rumours and slanders the 
wrath of the Moslems was roused to such a pitch that 
the continuance of quiet was impossible. Presently 
the Governor removed his family to the Citadel 
which he protected with guns, and this served as a 
signal to the Damascenes that the time was come, and 
they commenced making préparations for the abso- 
lute annihilation of the Christians of the city. The 
excitement grew fîercer and fîercer, the préparations 
for a massacre were completed, and the Christians 
despaired of deliverance. 

The Governor now sent a régiment of soldiers to 
the Bab Tuma, where is the Christian quarter, to pro- 
tect the Christians, who, however, had heard of the 
sort of protection accorded by thèse Turks at the 

[460] 



APPENDIX 

other massacres in Syria, and were convinced that 
one was about to commence. They supposed the sol- 
diers had been sent to attack them, and their terror 
was vastly increased when they learned f rom the Hasi- 
biyya refugees that this was the very régiment that 
had been in Hasibiyya and assisted in the massacre 
there, and having got some practice in such proceed- 
ings had come on to Damascus to repeat the scènes of 
Hasibiyya. And, indeed, the intentions of thèse sol- 
diers were apparent on their countenances. The 
Christians, in despair, committed their future to God, 
some of them, indeed, trying to take refuge in the 
houses of the more virtuous Moslems or to leave the 
city secretly when not prevented by the soldiers, while 
others tried to soften the soldiers and officers by prés- 
ents of money. Indeed, thèse were so lavishly be- 
stowed that the poorest of thèse Turkish soldiers be- 
came richer than the most eminent of the Christians, 
the wealth of the unfortunate Christians being trans- 
ferred to thèse savages, who, having been sent to 
protect their lives, attacked them in contravention of 
the law of God, the law of Islam and the law of 
manhood. 

When Ahmad Pasha perceived that further delay 
would be harmful rather than profitable, and that ail 
that was now wanted was a signal, he began to search 
for something that would excite the Moslems to such 
a pitch that they would of their own accord start on 
a massacre without instructions from the Govern- 
ment. He found an expédient directly. 

The Moslems, especially the Turks, had at that 

[461] 



APPENDIX 

tîme repeatedly insulted the Christian religion, and 
complaints about this had repeatedly been made to 
the Governor. When he wished the massacre to com- 
mence, he ordered the arrest of three Moslem lads 
who had openly insulted the Cross, and sent them 
bound and escorted to the Christian quarter, with 
orders to sweep its streets as a punishment for their 
conduct The Moslems, seeing them in this state, 
and being told by the Turks that they were going to 
act as slaves to the Christians because they had in- 
sulted the Cross, stopped them at the entrance of the 
Umayyad Mosque, and loosed their bonds without 
opposition from the soldiers. Entering the Mosque 
they deliberated for a short time, after which they 
left the building, one of them shouting at the top of 
his voice, " Help, help, Mohammed's Religion; the 
Cause of the Faith; the Cause of God against the 
Unbelieving Nazarenes ! " The cry went from mouth 
to mouth, the people became infuriated, and the 
Moslem rabble rushed from every quarter upon the 
Christian quarter like ravening wolves, eager to slake 
their fury by spilling Christian blood. This, then, 
was the beginning of the terrible massacre. 

While rushing upon the Christian quarter the riot- 
ers said to each other, " Fear not that the Govern- 
ment will intervene or that the soldiers will oppose 
our holy enterprise, but slaughter the Christians to 
a man this day; make their homes the food of the 
flame, and let their woman taste the bitterness of dis- 
honour; rid yourselves after such long endurance of 
thèse Nazarene unbelievers." By order of the Gover- 

[462] 



APPENDIX 

nor a blank discharge was fired at the Greek Ortho- 
dox Church; it set some matting alight, and when the 
rioters saw the flame they began to kindle fîres on ail 
sides of the Christian quarter, and entering the houses 
began to slay and pillage. The Turkish soldiers 
opened the doors to the invaders and prevented the 
Christians from escaping; before midday the whole 
quarter was a sheet of flame, and in the following 
night its appearance might hâve whitened an inf ant's 
hair. There were wretched créatures trying to escape 
from the jaws of the fîre, when the walls fell down 
with them, and they were left to die in indescribable 
torment. When day dawned and the rioters saw that 
there was nothing left to plunder, they employed 
their weapons upon ail who had escaped from the 
fîre, slaughtering every Christian whom they could 
find, sparing neither young nor old; they eut down 
the mothers and violated the daughters; they com- 
mitted every form of atrocity. The blood of the vic- 
tims flowed in the streets in rills. Destruction was 
everywhere; nothing could be seen in the Christian 
quarter except heads on which bullets were raining 
from the Turkish rifles, chests trampled by horse- 
hoofs, corpses partly devoured by flames and turned 
into ashes or charcoal blacker than night. The cry 
of women and children rose to heaven and the blood 
of the slain flowed in the streets imploring succour. 
To the spectator it seemed as though not a Christian 
soûl remained alive except some who had been spared 
by some of the rufiians for evil purposes, and who 
were begging for death, and welcomed it after the 

[463] 



APPENDIX 

terrors that they had witnessed. Six thousand inno- 
cent persons perished after enduring unspeakable 
agonies. 

Still, even in that gloomy time there were not 
wanting noble men, a remnant of whom are always to 
be found surviving, however savage the majority may 
be. Among the savage murderers there was found a 
man of high station, noble worth, lofty aspirations 
and attachaient to Islamic virtues, high-born and of 
high repute, a master with the sword and a master 
with the pen, a hero and a champion, familiar with 
war and its terrors, wherein he had played the man. 
In the days of his power his enemies had been Chris- 
tians, whom he had fought courageously; when for- 
tune had played him false and his sovereignty had 
come to an end, he had resolved on retiring to Da- 
mascus, there to pass the remainder of his days 
in such courses as pleased God. He detested the 
treacherous murder of the weak, and tried to restrain 
others f rom such acts as are forbidden by the Moslem 
religion. Among thèse debased mobs he shone like 
a gem in duU black stone; his spirit rose superior to 
the intrigues of the Turks and the machinations of 
the mischief-makers, and the deeds of the savages. 
This person was the unique Emir Abd al-Kadir of 
Algiers, whose memory God render fragrant, and on 
whom may He confer a thousand mercies; and may 
He make many like to him among the sons of Adam. 
He it was who showed himself brave and manly 
among the herd of evil-doers, cowards, dastards, 
villains, and traitors. 

[464] 



APPENDIX 

Having perceived on men's faces the signs of un- 
holy intentions, and having inferred from the négli- 
gence of the authorities in repressing the rioters that 
the authorities either had a hand in the business them- 
selves or were actually the instigators of the atrocities, 
when one day he met a number of the chief Moslems 
in the présence of Ahmad Pasha, after a long dis- 
cussion he persuaded them that such treachery to- 
wards a feeble community that did not amount to a 
tenth of the population of Damascus — exclusive of 
the army, and exclusive of the fact that the Christians 
w^ere utterly unaccustomed to fighting — could only 
be regarded as an infamous pièce of cowardice, bring- 
ing disgrâce on him who was guilty of it; and that 
an attack on ^^ the people of the Covenant " — the 
légal name for tolerated sects living under Moslem 
rule — so long as they remained obedient to the 
Moslem government, was a violation of the Sacred 
Code, and was not permitted by any religious System. 
The Governor, being unable to refuse his assent to 
thèse propositions, agreed to take joint steps to allay 
the excitement and to protect the Christians. Hence, 
when Abd al-Kadir learned of the dispatch of the 
régiment to the Christian quarter shortly before the 
butchery, his appréhensions were appeased, and he 
supposed that he had donc his duty and succeeded in 
carrying out his noble purpose. The Turkish Gov- 
ernor, however, and his satellites had no thought 
about honour nor about any code save that of their 
passion for blood and plunder, whence, overriding 
ail laws, they perpetratcd those acts which hâve been 

[46s] 



APPENDIX 

narrated. But when Abd al-Kadir heard of this, he 
sent his followers at night-time to every quarter of 
Damascus to search everywhere for Christians and 
bring them, wherever found, to the Emir's palace, 
protecting them on the way from the rioters. The 
whole of the night and the following day Abd al- 
Kadir kept gathering thèse poor wretches into his 
house where he provided them with food and drink 
at his own expense and did his best to console them, 
allay their fears and promise them an alleviation of 
their trials. No nobler conduct has ever been heard 
of. Many a time he went out himself and passed 
through the streets in which the butchery was going 
on, and with his own hand kept the murderer ofï his 
prey. Going to the booths, churches and consulates, 
where refugees were gathered by the hundred and 
thousand, he took them under his protection and led 
them ofï to his own house, whence he returned to de- 
liver a fresh batch. He also encouraged his own 
servants to do the same, and begged them to exert 
themselves therein. Finally, when he had got round 
him 12,000 refugees, his palace was too small to hold 
them, and he requested the brutal Governor, Ahmad 
Pasha, to order that they should be received in the 
Citadel, after having obtained from the Turk the 
most solemn promise that he would do them no harm. 
The unfortunate people were in conséquence placed 
in the Citadel where they remained days and weeks 
without clothing, shelter or food, and where they en- 
dured every kind of misery after the trials that they 
had undergone. God alone knows the anguish of 

[466] 



APPENDIX 

thèse refugees over the dear ones whom they had lost; 
over their personal losses and over the misérable 
plight to which they had corne ; especially as most of 
them believed the Citadel was going to turn out a 
death-trap like the Palace of Hasibiyya or Dair al- 
Kamar or Rashiyya, and that one day the Governor 
would open the gâtes and order the Druzes and 
Turks to massacre them to a man, as had happened 
to their brethren. This appréhension was strength- 
ened one day when an ofîicer was sent by the Gover- 
nor with orders to separate the women f rom the men 
for a purpose that was not then explained; the refu- 
gees gave up ail hope and made ready for death, 
imploring mercy for those whom they were preced- 
ing to Eternity and who had still some chance of 
abiding in the vale of tears. Fortunately this fear 
was not realised — chiefly through the efforts of the 
brave and philanthropie Abd al-Kadir. The efiforts 
of the Consuls were of no avail, for the authorities 
regarded them as enemies and wished to attack them 
with the rest. 

When the number of refugees assembled in Abd 
al-Kadir's house became very great — in addition to 
those who had been sent to the Citadel — the rioters 
wished to kill them also to a man, and resented the 
conduct of the Emir Abd al-Kadir in helping the 
Christians. Gathering round his house in masses 
they began to shout and cry and demand the im- 
médiate surrender of the Christians, failing which 
they threatened to burn his house and destroy him 
with his protégés; thinking that Abd al-Kadir was a 

[467] 



APPENDIX 

coward like the rest, who would be moved by threats 
and menaces. Hearing this, the hero ordered his 
followers to gather round his castle ; they were picked 
champions, whose prowess had been tried on battle- 
fields, as when under their heroic leader they had 
won a victory over the Sultan of Morocco at Mulaya, 
being 2500 against 60,000. Thèse troops maintained 
their allegiance to their prince, and such of them as 
survived the wars had come with him to Damascus. 
When, therefore, he summoned them on that terrible 
day, they surrounded him on every side, and the 
rioters seeing their valiant appearance, took to their 
heels; whereupon the Emir advanced by himself into 
the middle of the cowardly rioters and addressed 
them to the following efïect: " Avaunt, ye Moslem 
dogs, ye scum of mankindi Is it thus that ye honour 
your Prophet and obey his holy ordinances, ye vilest 
of unbelievers? Did God's Apostle bid ye deal thus 
with the people of the Covenant who were to be safe 
under your shadow? Is it this which Arabian cour- 
age nerves ye to do? Plague on ye for cowardly 
traitors, who murder the Christians who are fewer 
and weaker than yourselves, and reckon this to be 
valour, when it is disgrâce itself. Go back at once 
or I will not sheathe this sword till I hâve saturated 
it with your blood, and will command my men to 
f ail upon you, until not a single coward remain to tell 
what has happened to his brethren. And be well 
assured that ye shall repent in dust and ashes when 
the Franks shall come to avenge thèse injured Chris- 
tians, and shall turn your mosques into churches, and 

[468] 



APPENDIX 

make of you an example to them that will be warned. 
Go back, cease from your folly, or I will make this 
hour the last of your lives, and will take rétribution 
from you for the evil which you hâve committed." 

The mighty man's words terrified the hearts of 
the dastards, and they went back dismayed, and so 
12,000 lives were saved through the instrumentality 
of one hero. His name shall last so long as honour 
lasts or courage is remembered. 

[There follows a list of other eminent Moslems 
who aided the efforts of Abd al-Kadir.] 

This is the substance of the terrible story. We 
narrate it hère and leave the reader to say to himself 
what he pleases. The number of the slain in Damas- 
cus and its suburbs was 6000, and of those slain else- 
where about the same. The whole of this happened 
in the month of June of the Black Year (1860) . The 
number of persons left homeless and destitute was 
more than 150,000; the number of women and chil- 
dren that became widows and orphans was not less 
than 20,000; the number of houses belonging to inno- 
cent Christians that were burned down was about 
7000; the number of persons who died in this month 
of the effects of fright, grief, anxiety and sudden 
poverty was not less than 14,000; and the amount 
of money pillaged and looted was not less than 
£3,000,000. 

Consider thèse matters — God guard you — and pray 
God that He will deliver the earth from the evil- 
doers. 

[469] 



GLOSSARY 



Abbasid: descended from the Prophet's uncle Abbas. Name of 

the third Mohammedan dynasty, whose capital was ordinarily 

Baghdad. 
Abd: slave of. As an élément in proper names prefîxed to names 

of God. 
Abu : f ather of. A form of name taken by Arabs, called kunyah. 
Agha: master, commander, or chief (Turkîsh.) 
Ayyubid: descended from Ayyub (Job), f ather of Saladin. 
Azhar: brilliant, masculine of Zahra, a title of the Prophet's 

daughter Fatimah. 
Bab : door, gâte. 

Bahr : sea, great river, used for the Nile. 
Bahri: of the Nile, name given to first Mameluke dynasty, be- 

cause of their barracks on an island in the Nile. 
Bait: house, room. 
Bey: prince or noble. Turkish title. 
Birket: pool (of), pond (of). 
BuRji: of the Castle, name given to second séries of Mameluke 

dynasties, from their barracks on the Citadel. 
Caliph: successor, ordinarily of the Prophet, in the sovereignty 

of the Moslems. 
Caravanserai : inn for the lodgîng of caravans. 
DiKKAH : bench. 

DiWAN : bureau, public office, council. 
Efendi : Turkish title, corresponding w^ith our " esquire," usually 

confîned to Moslems, but now not exclusively. 
Emir: governor, name given to high officiais at the Mameluke 

court. 
Fatimide: descended from Fatimah, the Prophet's daughter and 

[471] 



GLOSSARY 

lier Husband Ali, the Prophet's cousin. Name taken by the 

Egyptian Caliphs, who, rightly or wrongly, claimed such 

descent. 
Gharbiyyah : western (fem.) 
Harah : Street. 
HiSN : fort, fortress. 
Ibn: son of. 

Ikhshid : title used in Farghanah for sovereign. 
Imam: leader, usually in prayer. 
IwAN : see liwan. 
Kadi: judge. 

Kan : title of Mongol rulers of Baghdad. 
Karafah : cemetery. 
Ka'ah : saloon, large room, 
Ketkhuda: steward. 
Khan: sovereign (in Turkey) ; noble (in Persia) ; storehouse for 

merchandise (chiefly in Syria). 
Khanagah: hospice. 

Khédive: king or prince. Persian title, given the Egytian ruler, 
KiBLAH : niche marking direction of prayer in a mosque. 
KuBBAH : cupola. 
Liwan: word employed by writers on Egyptian architecture for 

an arched hall, usually with one side open towards a court; 

aisle of a mosque. 
M ADANAH : minaret. M adanat : minaret of . 
Madrasah : school, collège, place of instruction, 
Maktab: elementary school. 
Maksurah: portion of a mosque marked ofï for the use of the 

sovereign or governor. 
Mashhad: grave of a saint. 
Malik: king. Title taken by Egyptian rulers, and sometimes by 

their minîsters. 
Mameluke: slave. 
MiHRAB : see Kiblah. 
Minaret: tower adjoînîng a mosque, with one or more galleries 

whence the call to prayer is chanted. 

[472] 



GLOSSARY 

Minbar: pulpît of a mosque. 

Mosque: Mohammedan place of worship. 

Mueddin: officiai whose business it is to chant the call to praycr, 

Muristan: hospital. 

Pasha: title given to very high officiais in the Turkish Empire. 

Ribat: small monastery. 

Sayyid, f em. Sayyidah : title given to descendants of the Prophet. 

Sebil: public drinking fountain. 

Sheik: head of a tribe; doctor of theology. 

Shi'ah : partisans of Ali, as opposed to orthodox Moslems. 

SiDi: abbreviation of Sayyidi, my lord, used of Egyptian princes. 

SuFi: Mohammedan mystic or ascetic. 

Sultan: title assumed by Mohammedan sovereigns, who ruled 

under the nominal suzerainty of the Caliph. In the Ottoman 

Empire the two titles are combined. 
SuNNi: orthodox Moslem, opposed to Shi'i. 
Takiyyah: monastery. 

Ukalah or Wakalah : building for the storage or merchandise. 
Zahir : title taken by Sultans, signifying victorious. 
Zawiyah : cell, small monastery. 



[473] 



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